Hitching a ride series hwy 11 oro Photograph - Limited Edition of 1

Breaking down the meaning of images and assembling new contexts is the basis for my work. Since the early 1990s I have used mixed media and photographic assemblage to express an ever evolving imagination. These often take the form of vibrant aesthetic experiences that fuse playful abstractions with the intensified realism of captured images. Artwork begins as a singular process with the object of connecting with others. The removal of collective barriers and the dismantling of our perceptions allow expressions from within to find this commonality. While the end result of my work offers discourse and a large degree of interpretive latitude, my hope is to share with the viewer a sense of creative connection and imaginative exploration. The creative process for my work often begins with visions of space, balance, and colour. Readily identifiable ideas provide the opportunity for story to be expressed often culminating in reinvented and dramatic resolution. The use of objects in a new conceptual context then offers the viewer a chance to explore their own imagination and creativity. The compositions of my pieces are usually finalized when the manipulated scene provides enough insight to evoke feelings of dislocated familiarity. I endeavour to achieve some level of fragmented fluency in most of my work. What forms our perception confirms our realities and from within the imagination our realities become limitless. A consistent theme expressed throughout this series is the limitless nature of our imagination and the sometimes difficult task it has of making sense of the new we wish it to reliably seek out. The vivacity and starkness realizes a long held truism of the human psyche; that all aesthetic beauty is free, yet shrouded in meaning that may never fully realize itself. In this series the freedom of our imagination is only restricted by our world, but the further it moves beyond the familiar the more difficult it is to find meaning. It is my hope that this series offers consolidation to this demanding problem while at the same time serving to perpetuate it. Just as we find answers to questions, so to should we continue to ask more. www.brianbarrer.com www.brian-barrerphotography.com