"The Waking Dreams of Phantasmata Traumata" Opening Reception

Does an artwork dream? Let’s imagine that the material, the medium of a created thing can also be a medium of another kind. A mystic, a clairvoyant, a soothsayer that augurs better futures, purges injuries of the soul, and connects us with the unhappy ghosts of our cruel world. The artwork as medium might be a channel to awaken other pasts (and the pasts of others), transform the present, and reshape what is to come. We might be soothed, healed, redeemed, but fear we cannot. Perhaps the dream begins as a nightmare. These are, after all, times of plague. The Waking Dreams of Phantasmata Traumata explores the psychic lives of artworks when the artist is forgotten. The exhibition presents supernatural collaborations, invitations for paranormal visitation, psychic predictions, and uncanny mediations. Join us at The Art Gallery of the College of Staten Island for an exhibition of paintings, objects, moving image, and otherworldly guests.