Jozy Olmos-Norris

BFA ’21 Painting and Drawing and Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies with a Concentration in Art Histories

Artist Statement:

PHANTASMAGORY

This body of work illuminates a fantastical world.

I’m interested in the role that our perception plays in the documentation of history. The distinction between science and magic is a relatively recent one. During the Renaissance, wealthy people would assemble cabinets of curiosities, collections of objects that they felt described the natural world. These collections featured both ‘scientific’ objects (like shells or bones) and fabricated objects (like a mermaid made from monkey and fish skeletons). Both groups of objects served to affirm their worldview. Because there was no distinction between disciplines, there was no sense that either category of objects was more or less “real”, or even that two categories existed at all.

In northern Europe sightings and stories of fairies were recorded as a scientific phenomenon, only undergone by those who had the second sight. Second sight was the rare ability to perceive things that other people could not see. It was understood to be either received through heredity (unwanted and involuntary) or sought out through the use of certain substances. This interests me in particular because of my own struggle with mental health. Though the historical references are unspecific, the substances used to bring about second sight were likely psychedelic, probably fungi.

Another group thought to possess the ability to view the world of the fae were children, specifically girls. There is a fine line between imagination and altered perception, a line that remains undefined in children’s stories. I’m particularly inspired by fantastical field guides, like Wil Huygen’s Gnomes and Cicely Mary Barker’s Fairyopolis, which grasped my imagination as a child.

The goal of this body of work is to illuminate a fantastical world while calling attention to the role that perception plays in this documentation, and drawing inspiration from natural history and storytelling in fairy tales and folklore.