Winner of MCA's Brick Gallery Director's Award: “The Bohemian Mind” represents the minefield of thoughts and emotions that reflect the contradictory conditions of the imagination against the so-called reality of everyday life. I’m a surrealist painter who, paintbrush in hand, attempts to peel away the layers to find meaning. Topiaries that typically beautify the gardens of the rich watch with suspicion as I walk past. Trees are not just trees; sometimes they are living human bodies. Creatures, some with only heads, scatter at my feet—are they friendly or dangerous? As I walk through my imagination I dangle my soul away from my body, both to protect it and to illuminate my path. This painting is also a nod to the genius of surrealist Spanish/Mexican painter Remedios Varo and Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi and his Art Nouveau architecture.