Elevation Askew

-Elevation Askew by Tariq Soliman

"A man ascends into imagination"

      To better understand fantasy I underwent creating it myself. I made this piece with Paint.NET and a mash up of online images.

      My central focus is on the man climbing the ladder upside-down. I liked the irony of the up climbing position but the downward travel. I next wanted to combine nature and attempted a tree. To keep up with fantasy I made the leaves gears and the roots wires. Perhaps it depicts the uniformity and complexity of nature. I don't know why but I wanted a dead bird. I let my whims and imagination guide me (sadly not to a .png image, but it's not that noticeable). Actually I'll change my mind and say the bird is sleeping. With sleep comes dreams.  Lastly the horse head nebula represents wonder and that fantasy exists in the real world. My plan when creating this was to have no plan and that made all the difference.

       This image is comprised of all real life things (the Pegasus being a horse and wings). It shows that we craft fantasy out of reality. Merriam-Webster defines fantasy as "the free play of creative imagination",  and that is just what this picture is. The beauty of fantasy is that it has no rules, forms or convention. It can be what ever you want it to be. It can be interpreted however you see fit.