William
Otto
I
am a representational artist working in a surreal, visionary
style.
My art therefore, is as much about the world of three dimensional
objects in three dimensional space, as it is about the imagination
and the juxtaposition of representational images in a free
form way that would suggest the dream experience.
A major thematic influence for my work is the Medieval practice
of Alchemy as it applies to the psychic/spiritual dimensions
of the creative process. This is especially so as it
was interpreted by psychologist Carl Jung and mythologists
Joseph Campbell, Henry Corbin and others. Another major
influence was the 20th century Surrealists movement as it
was expressed by the writings of Andre Breton and Surrealists
artists from Spain, France, Germany and Belgium.
My work usually begins with a setting, or a staging if you
will, that in some indescribable way resonates with me as
a 'place' for an unorthodox event to happen. The event
is the creative process of bringing into being an imaginative
composition of images that while representational, are in
unconventional relationships of space and scale. The
setting can be natural or manmade (i.e. landscapes or architecture
for example).
The standard I impose on my compositions is that although
they are a re-assemblage of the visual world, they must have
an independent integral consistency; otherwise anything could
come in and be distracting. That filter of integral
consistency has to do with an intuitive sense of maintaining
a theme, even though the theme may not be fully understood
to either myself or the viewer. The important element of the
composition is that it be able to convey it's own reality.
In this way, the work becomes about something, much like a
dream can be experienced as being about something, however
indecipherable it may be.
I have chosen this type of creative work because through a
combination of innate talent, life experiences and education,
I have found fulfillment in envisioning the universe within
while still being much influenced by the wonders of the universe
at large. The creative process is my personal way of bringing
art, myth and science together, as these realms of human enterprise
represent both the personal interior world of imagination
and mankind's need to explore and find meaning in
the greater universe in which we live and have our being.