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Andrew Paranavitana, an Independent Artist and Photographer based in Melbourne, Australia.
I am inspired by the world every day. It’s people, places, landscapes and cultures are a visual feast and sensory overload at times. Simple things that often get taken for granted or go unnoticed can be a virtual playgound to a person with a camera in hand. My art strongly focuses on the psychology of dark emotional states of mind and has been inspired by my own experiences, trauma, and processes of healing. Within this focus, I have divided the work into two main categories: darkness and light. My work explores the dualities found between the two, in opposition to each other or in co-existential crises. The physical appearance of my work is a depiction of the emotive states of mind that we often experience throughout life, the darker the image, the heavier and more intense the emotional expression within the piece. I often delve into themes of adversity, fear, and the overcoming thereof, the eternal quest for freedom and hope, and a search for answers amongst timelines of experience and trauma that can twist and shape us into who we become.
What are the primary concepts and focus of your art and how do these ideas relate to your medium, and creative process itself?
My art strongly focuses on the psychology of dark emotional states of mind and has been inspired by my own experiences, trauma, and processes of healing. Within this focus, I have divided the work into two main categories: darkness and light. My work explores the dualities found between the two, in opposition to each other or in co-existential crises. The physical appearance of my work is a depiction of the emotive states of mind that we often experience throughout life, the darker the image, the heavier and more intense the emotional expression within the piece. I often delve into themes of adversity, fear, and the overcoming thereof, the eternal quest for freedom and hope, and a search for answers amongst timelines of experience and trauma that can twist and shape us into who we become.
When I am not shining a light on these darker moments, I find myself swept up in an air of nostalgia. Memoirs of childhood years that sit on the lighter side of the emotional spectrum. Less traumatic and challenging, rather laced with a familiar sense of warmth and safety. Periods when I have felt protected and at peace. These two main veins of art come directly from my childhood and have come together to make me who I am today. They combine to create a huge source of inspiration and have been paramount in my personal and artistic development, which in turn is a big part of my healing process.
I have a strong interest in psychology and spirituality, and the apparent connection between the two; psychology defining our fear-based emotions and the ways trauma can affect them, and spirituality highlighting ways in which to heal and develop from the very same trauma and the effects this has on our darker self. My art has innately nurtured these traits. I did not intentionally set out to be an expresser of emotion or need a way to channel my past traumas and memories, morphing them into permanent and tangible things to reflect on later in life. It happened in a self-creative way, without the intention to express, only to create. The process itself was natural and free-flowing, from the initial photo capture all through the editing to the final image. I never know when day will be turned to night, or a crisp, clean image will take on heavier textures or blur into abstraction. I submit to what my subconscious mind needs at the time, as part of the creative process. My photography has granted me the chance to represent these emotions and create a mood that evokes questions from the viewer and quite often, also from myself. An infinite loop of creativity that spurs healing, that in turn inspires creativity. Digital manipulation of my images with texture and toning has given me the chance to convey stories, sometimes obscure and always open to the viewer’s interpretation. My own story lies within each work, but the viewer can decide to either digest that as seen, or create their journey from the piece, should it call to them. My use of textures has developed into a strong and distinctive editing style and allows the sense of mood and thought to be brought through in ways that I otherwise cannot. I use scratches and cracks to represent pain and hardship. Shadowing and older landscapes and structures convey a sense of my darker past. I have utilised rich colour and toning in most of my images to create more depth, drawing a depictive pathway to the depths of the subconscious mind, where many of these memories, trauma, and pain lays hidden and unaddressed for most of our lives.
Which of your works stands out as a highlight, a favorite, or a significant point in your creative growth and development? and why?
Torment (2012) – A piece that I later realized was an emotional self-portrait, an expression of pain and undiscovered layers of fears that I would - years later - go on to heal and understand. This piece was part of the beginning of a journey that has led me to where I am today.
-Anamnesis (2010) – One of my first textured images, which showed me a new direction I could take with my work that added a unique creative element and allowed me to express more emotion through my images than I could unedited.
My previous digitally manipulated series titled Darkened Introspection (2013), based entirely on the works and findings of Carl Jung. This series explores The Persona and the hardships it has created for itself by opting to remain in a mask to the world while keeping its Shadow Self hidden away. The inability to balance darkness and light within oneself and the twisted pain that has resulted from doing so.
Which artists are you inspired and influenced by?
Outside of my own experiences, I have been influenced by a variety of artistic modalities. Film, music, and written material have played a huge role in shaping my artistic vision, and my exploration of psychology opened a new door, allowing me to combine this artistic vision with explored personal experience, to create in the way that I do.
Recording Artists:
Massive Attack – Timeless production and dark sounds, themes surrounding darker emotions and states of mind, addiction, and the need for self-awareness and free thinking. Political in their messages, never vapid or without meaning.
Zero 7 – Calming and beautifully peaceful sounds, with intricate production techniques fusing electronica and instruments. Themes around love, warmth, and summertime.
SAULT – British collective of mostly unknown members, creating genre-bending sounds that produce as both uplifting and dark music based around themes of rising above pain and adversity, finding hope, and breaking free of personal prisons. Unique production, and deeply profound lyrics.
Film & Directors:
David Lynch - Surrealistic set design and direction.
Denis Villeneuve - Direction and cinematography.
Guillermo Del Toro - Direction, postproduction toning, cinematography, and thematic influences.
Traditional Artists:
Claude Monet - lighting, brush stroke, colour palette: Arius, Impression Sunrise.
Renoir - Colour palette, brush stroke: The Doges Palace.
Salvador Dali - Surreal, disturbing, and unsettling imagery: The Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition.
Antoni Gaudi - Art Nouveau style merging nature and architecture to create organic structures that appear to have their pulse. His creativity and originality made him a standout: Casa Battlo, Casa Mila.
Authors:
Edgar Allen Poe - The Raven. The Fall of The House of Usher. The dark themes surrounding this piece have influenced multiple images based on crows and ravens.
Jonathan Tropper - The Book of Joe Themes surrounding family and its negative impact on our life and making peace with our past. A great study into guilt, shame, grief, and self-acceptance.
Photographers:
Arthur Tress - Black and white photographic series with dark themes and visually arresting work.
Andreas Gursky - Large format photography with intricate details.
Psychology:
Carl Jung - Development of the archetypes - The Persona, The Shadow Self, The Anima/Animus, The Hero and The Self. “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it embodied the individual’s conscious self, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.”
- Carl Jung C.W. Vol. 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East Sigmund Freud - Development of the archetypes - The Ego, The Id, The Superego.
Both psychologists have influenced and inspired my works, by delving into the subconscious and unconscious minds, mapping out the connection between this and our conscious self, uncovering the ways we work as humans, and allowing me the chance to see into myself and find pathways to healing and rewiring trauma. The inspiration that comes from these discoveries has developed into my generator of creativity that burns strong.
What advice would you give to your younger or older self?
You are going to be fine. Life has been hard, not always fair, and most certainly not always in your favor. It’s not always going to be like this, and it’s all happening for a very good reason, even if you can’t see what that is right now. You will look back on these years as the ones that made you who you are today. The years that formed your strength of character. You will have gained so much experience, knowledge, wisdom, and creative energy after all you are going through; your ability to deal with life after these years will make you more powerful than you have ever realized possible. Everything you set your mind to do, you will accomplish, at a great level. It won’t always be easy, and you won’t always win immediately, but you will keep going. You will persevere and fight for your goals and ambitions because these years of your life will make you resilient and strong. Your dreams will turn themselves into reality because you actioned and willed them to be. You did this all on your own, without anyone to tell you this is the pathway for you. You found yourself in the darkest of times and fought for all you have. That’s how I know you will always be ok.
What is your artist message, what do you wish to communicate to the viewer?
I have always aimed to capture the world as we see it and present it in a way that we may not. I want the viewer to connect with my work and see something familiar, or uncomfortable that, due to its familiarity, needs to be investigated. I want viewers to feel seen and understood and to know that others have also experienced this, too. I want my audience to challenge themselves with questions about their own lives, have they been living at their best level or has something been holding them back? Are they aware of all of the aspects of their own mind and subconscious self?
What memorable reactions have you had to your work?
I was once told that a piece “…felt like it was made just for me.”, which was a huge compliment to receive. The man told me he felt drawn to the piece and said while he didn’t know exactly what it was about, it didn’t matter because he was making up his mind about it. It was an amazing moment for me, and it started a growth phase for me as an artist. I knew from then that I could create how I wanted, and my audience would perceive the images however they needed, and I was ok with this new revelation.
I recall another time; my work offered an answer to a question the viewer had not yet asked themself. This spurred a deeper conversation about the power of art and the messages it can hold for the viewer.
A viewer told me (of my series Darkened Introspection), that while they thoroughly appreciated the work that went into creating it, they could not look at it for too long, as it made them feel a sense that they were not comfortable with. I took this to be a sign of achieving what I was hoping for with that series of works, based on Carl Jung’s characterised Persona, and the confusion that can occur when we try to remain as Persona for our whole life.
What is your dream project?
I have started the preliminary planning stages for my dream project; a series based on Carl Jung’s Shadow Self, a sequel to Darkened Introspection. The series will symbolise the effects of not acknowledging our Shadow Self, the negative emotion tied to these experiences, and how this affects our Persona, Inner Child, and the people around us.
My dream is to travel the world, collecting props, scenery, and images that I can combine into composited images to create this series. This will draw together all my skills, vision, and styles into one larger body of work, with the intention of printing each image at a larger scale to exhibit. The complexities of this project are still in development and as I continue to peel back layers of planning on this, I am slowly becoming more aware and artistically conscious of what is expected of me to bring this series into reality.
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