- November 18, 2024
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There is a place where dreams and reality intertwine. A place where animals and humans intersect seamlessly; where artists strive to make their dreams a reality; and that place between what is actually seen and unseen and the possibility in between.
This is the place that draws together three woman who will be exhibiting their work at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum starting Sept. 12.
The six-week show will shine the spotlight on Fay Samimi, Beau Wild and Titane Laurent, whose work seems to live in the in-between.
“In a dream, I don’t differentiate animal and people, so that’s how I make my pieces,” said Samimi, an Ormond Beach-based ceramic artist, who works with low fire, stoneware and porcelain clay to make surreal and mythical sculptures.
Her works incorporate items from the environment, such as shells, rocks and wood, as well as Persian mythology with the addition of an ear of an animal and a horn to most figurative pieces.
“I’m concerned about the environment, so I refer to that in my work,” Samimi said. “I love animals, so I give human characters to them in my work. My husband sometimes tells me I am living in the dream world.”
Similarly, Wild uses her acrylic paintings to tell the stories of human relationships she sees around her. Her paintings are abstracts, but always tell a story.
“I’ve always been an observer,” she said adding that she loves to sit in outdoor cafes and watch people. “I make up stories about them in my mind — a lot of my paintings deal with some kind of intriguing story that appeals to me; what they’re showing with their body language, saying with their hands.”
Wild said that when she starts paintings, there is no idea in mind, but as the canvas develops, she sees marks that suggest figures and her paintings are born from there.
Her painting "Joy and Sadness of the Surrogate" depicts two images and resemble women and a child. In explaining the piece, Wild said that she imaged there’s a lot of mixed emotions for a surrogate mother that now has to give the child up. The painting expresses the empathy she has for those women.
The show comes full circle with Laurent, an abstract painter who is focused on challenging herself to dream big no matter what.
“I always want to challenge myself to realize a new dream small and big,” she said. “I have a dream, and I make it a reality as much as I can.”
She draws her inspiration from people. In high times and in suffering, Laurent said she can see the happy in people’s eyes and that’s what she uses as inspiration in her abstract art.
Laurent said that often times her paintings are seen as sad, but that even a happy life is hard and that’s what her figures reflect.
“Often we are surrounded by other people, but when we are alone and in the seriousness of the present moment, that’s what I want to catch in my paintings,” she said. “It seems like it might be sad, but it is true life. I’m not somebody who is sad or depressed, it’s just expressing life in its beauty, even though it’s not very beautiful. Because life is hard.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Between Dreams and Reality”
When: Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12; the show will run for six weeks
Where: Ormond Memorial Art Museum, 78 E. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach
