‘Nightmares I’ came from a place I couldn’t ignore. After months of pouring myself into realistic portraits, I found my dreams turning against me. Night after night, I was haunted by unsettling visions connected to my art journey – eyes staring, mouths opening, teeth gnashing. They followed me until I finally let them spill out onto the surface.
Using bold strokes of blue, red, and white acrylic markers, I let instinct take over. The colours feel urgent, almost violent, because that’s how the dreams felt – relentless and impossible to quiet. The three pairs of eyes, mouths, and teeth are not just symbols of fear, but of my own inner torment, the pressure of being seen, judged, and consumed by my work.
This painting is less about creating something beautiful and more about survival. It gave me a way to face the weight of those recurring nightmares and transform them into something tangible, something outside of me. ‘Nightmares I’ is a raw confrontation with myself – an exorcism of the fear that comes with being an artist.