Dreaming chamber 1999
Installation comprising canvas, pigment, sand, water, synchronised sound, lighting and projection
Dimensions variable
Collection: The artist

Karen Casey’s Dreaming chamber invites the viewer on a transformative journey – a journey of the spirit rather than mind. Combining the meditative powers of water, floating images and sound, the work functions like a restorative oasis, a brief pause in time before we venture out of the past and into the new millennium. The perception of time is a critical element in Casey’s work. The artist says: ‘True inspiration is transcendental, a moment 'out of time'; so for me, making art is an attempt to capture or more precisely hang onto that moment in its evolving state. Light, animating the walls with reflected patterns, is visible only through vibrations in the pool. As these ripples collide, the mind of the viewer is affecting reality by registering their existence, and so once engaged in the process of seeing, observer becomes creator . . . dreamer becomes artist.’

Artist's statement:

"Time past and time future
Allow but a little consciousness
To be conscious is not to be in time"
T.S.Eliot

Life offers infinite possibility, yet we confine it to a singular reality, governed by our 'one way' perception of time. In attempting to contain the moment we divided existence, separating the physical and spiritual worlds. We have forgotten how to live 'out of time' - we have forgotten the 'dreaming'. Our dreams and inspirations are the blue prints of the future, so perhaps for the survival and development of humanity, we must once again experience life in its 'timeless' continuum; understanding and seeing the interconnectedness of all existence in its evolution through spirit.

True inspiration is transcendental, a moment 'out of time', so for me, making art is an attempt to capture or more precisely hang onto that moment in its evolving state. Light, animating the walls with reflected patterns, is visible only through vibrations in the pool. As these ripples collide the mind of the viewer is affecting reality by registering their existence and so once engaged in the process of seeing, observer becomes creator...dreamer becomes artist.