Art print of my original illustration, Balloon Portal. This piece is part of Portals: Places Unseen, a solo exhibition by Maile Lani held at the Center for the Arts in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2023. The series explores dreamlike landscapes and surreal, liminal spaces. Artist Statement from the Exhibition In the transitional space between wakefulness and slumber, a unique phenomenon emerges: fleeting visions of places that feel almost real, yet, like dreams, are unmistakably out of reach. "Portals: Places Unseen" is an exploration of this liminal realm, a series of visual narratives that straddle the tangible and the ethereal, reality and dream. At the heart of each piece lies a portal, a circular scene nestled within another, mirroring the very nature of dreams within dreams, oar worlds within worlds. These portals are not passive windows; they are vibrant, living entities. Bathed in a dreamy haze, they beckon the viewer to peer inside, revealing vast, otherworldly expanses. Some of these expanses are inhabited by beings that have become known to me as Guardians. The Guardians are not mere creatures of fantasy; they carry a heavy mantle. They are the sentinels of the unknown, protectors of the portals, gateways to parallel universes. These universes, though seemingly distant, echo our own desires, fears, and dreams. The Guardians' sacred duty is to shield these entrances from discovery, occasionally leaving the confines of their home realms to ensure the sanctity of the portals. Drawing inspiration from my own pre-slumber visions, this collection invites the viewer on a journey, a foray into the depths of the imagination, where one can traverse the boundaries of their known reality and dive into the infinite possibilities of the unseen. Each piece serves as a reminder of the expansive universe within us all, urging us to question, to dream, and to explore beyond the familiar.
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