Are you seeing things? Probably!

NN III, charcoal & chalk tonal study.

NN IV, charcoal & chalk tonal study.

So apophenia...not  a very well known word I grant you. However I feel it is entirely the most appropriate  word to describe the thought process behind my latest body of work. Via apophenia we see patterns or images where they may not actually exist, we all do it, that face in the clouds or the wonderful boxing octopus that is really a coat hook. Of course these are simple observations, but apophenia can be a symptom of something more serious such as schizophrenia. It can also explain the modern tendency to create and believe in conspiracy theories, seeing a pattern in random events where none exists.

On the whole in this blog I will be looking at how the observer may see patterns in abstract or none- representational  art, but on occasions I will widen the field to consider these other aspects of the apophenia. But for now please take a look at the two tonal studies at the top of this post and see what you think; I'd love to know what you can see in them.