Insomnia Series

The 'Insomnia Series' is a set of 5 digital textile composite illustrations. These pieces follow the theme of insomnia or wakefulness, inspired by a poem written by Ellis Sykes in 2009.
We have all experienced those dreaded nights where our minds seem unable to stop turning over. Leaving us stuck in a twilight state between exhaustion and sleeplessness.
In modern society today we rely heavily on technology, economic efficiency and social media. The stresses and strains of this fast paced modern life take its toll on our mental wellbeing, and overload our senses. It has therefore never been harder to switch off when the time comes to sleep.
Sleep psychology holds stress, anxiety, light or noise disturbances, and fluctuating hormone levels accountable to sleepless nights. Therefore the colours used are vibrant, brash and invasive, inspiring brain activity, alertness and anxiety similar to that experienced in insomniacs, and often seen in the garish advertisements, brightly lit computer, television and phone screens.
The floating chiffon fabric, which dances in front of the stationary canvas; creates a blurred hallucinogenic image; giving the illusion of ‘seeing double’. This further obscures the mind, bringing the audience closer to the sensation of dreaming, or half sleep.
The obscurity of the images contents refer to the work of the art movement surrealism. Dreams and subconscious thought are never logical, often symbolic of deeper, primal thought processes, such as the theories of Sigmund Freud. Here animals and objects are used to symbolise greater concepts and concerns of the human condition, and in turn the cause of sleeplessness, such as fear, pressure and death.

For more information visit http://www.ellissykes.com/