Casey Kotas... Amid the Streams of Consciousness

Leitmotif Number Four - Digital -  Casey Kotas

"When man (and woman) first picked up a charred piece of wood to make a mark on a cave wall, the idea of artistic expression came into being. Some time later, the sister concept of philosophy materialized and humanity sped off into what we call civilization and culture. The reason I consider philosophy a sister to artistic expression is that they both deal with the expansion of consciousness and the illumination of spirit, through self-expression and self-awareness. These are probably the two most transcendent attributes exhibited by Homo sapiens and, to a large extent, have been responsible for the progress that we have demonstrated as a species."

- Casey Kotas, excerpt from his essay Analog versus Digital Art, 9/7/2009

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I've been off on a tangent for the past few months - half a dozen of them (months and tangents), actually - to the degree that the original purpose of this blog, i.e., to explore Transdimensionalism and Transfigurativism in digital art, has been almost completely compromised. A large part of the problem, and it should be fairly obvious by now, is that I have something I refer to as Multiple Muse Disorder (MMD). One can flatter me and refer to me as a "Renaissance woman". Detractors may describe my modus operandi as a bad case of dilettantism, but, essentially it comes down to this: despite how disparate the forms of ones output seem to be, they all originate from the same integrated source, and often reflect an ability to express the same essential "message" in a variety of different ways. (And, keep in mind, "dilettante" originated from an Italian word meaning nothing more than "loving the arts".)  Ultimately, I'm of the opinion that if one can't translate ones expressions into varied disciplines, it represents more of a deficit than a virtue.

It was In an effort to get back on the track, however, and having little new work of my own to exhibit, that I came upon the work of Casey Kotas - via this MOCA page -  a digital artist working out of Chicago, Illinois. Interestingly enough, Casey notes in his biographical sketch, that after some formal art training, he left school to become a musician, before returning to the visual arts via the computer; and it may very well be that his work as a musician enabled him to express himself so eloquently, so harmonically, in the visual arts.

Doctrinal Entrapment - Digital - Casey Kotas

Kotas describes his images as "stream of consciousness", which, if you've read the term definitions on the sidebar of this blog, falls under "Transfigurativism". It was also the favored "automatic" technique of the Surrealists. His use of fractals, on the other hand, automatically defines his work as Transdimensional as well, because while fractals describe phenomena in the natural 3-dimensional world, they do so by interpreting the relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm - that is to say, they describe how one dimension is enfolded in the other. So fractals are a type of "magical wand" for the Transdimensionalist, whereby many dimensions, both mathematical abstractions and the rarefied dimensions of the psyche are able to interweave, creating an homogenous, holistic fabric, an electronic tissue which, in itself, can reflect all and anything to the observer.

Dream Journey - digital - Casey Kotas

I've included a few examples of Kotas' work here, but these merely partially represent the magnitude of his abilities to translate the multi-dimesnsional reality of the psyche into two dimensions. There are hundreds of images in his galleries. But. all of them do have one thing in common, and I think this is represented by the images here; that is, there is refined intricacy of line and form, as delicate and pure as Mother Nature's finest works.

Enjoy!

A Transdimensionalist's Dream