Dream Symbols (2022)

Dream Symbols, painted in 1934, is an example of Carlos Merida’s brilliant take on both surrealism and nationalist murals, utilizing non-representational forms that elicit transcendence of reality while subconsciously including Mayan motifs. I was drawn to this work because of the brilliant spectrum of cool colors floating in space contrasted by yellow sandy dunes and a vibrant red moon, the outlines of a detailed hand and peg leg body contrasting the cartoonish figures and cape connected to no one, and the key that runs perfectly parallel to the frame. The concept of using realistic objects as symbols in a nonrepresentational setting, moves me to write music in similar fashion. My electronic music composition inspired by this painting combines an atmosphere of discordant, colorful harmonies created by transformative pure synth tones with real manipulated samples of sounds representing the dream symbols. If you like this animation, stay tuned for an upcoming process video where I show how to turn a surrealist painting into an animation in my style! Hit the notification bell and subscribe for more.