'I dream what I paint, then I paint my dreams.' - Van Gogh

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Because I often have very strange and vivid dreams, I am interested in not only learning about the subconscious mind and the way it works, but also making the thoughts in my head into something more tangible and real, in order to try to understand them better. Freud says that dreams are 'collages of images and memories that our subconscious has collected throughout the years', which is why I first begin by creating a preliminary collage on the computer that I then paint from. I also listen to music as I create these collages and let some of the song lyrics inspire certain elements of the piece as well. The process of doing this allows me to work through my thoughts on a deeper level, making these paintings extremely personal to me. I have struggled with anxiety and depression in the past, and most of my paintings reflect those internal struggles in one way or another.