The World that We Cannot Yet See

Spontaneous drawings, abstract worlds, and hope

At the beginning of 2023, I started drawing a series of abstract worlds.

It was an idea that came to me seemingly out of nowhere. I did not even know what I was creating at first — I thought I was merely doodling and playing with lines, shapes, and patterns.

But before long, through no conscious will of my own except allowing each mark to emerge intuitively from the last, these basic elements began to coalesce into their own forms, and a new world was born.

This was not the first time I’ve made imaginary worlds or abstract landscapes, but these drawings felt much more distant and unfamiliar than anything I had created in the past. Each of them seemed to depict a remote place located far away in both time and space —somewhere almost completely alien.

Artistically, they were also very different from my previous work — being far more non-representational and geometric than what I had made before. In fact, not only were these completely unplanned and unintentional — I could not have even imagined making them until they came into being.

At this point in my life, I had been feeling extremely stuck in almost every way — personally, socially, professionally, and even artistically. And all around me, I saw the same theme everywhere I looked — among my peers, in the news, and in the collective vibe in general.

So the fact that could I create something from beyond even my imagination gave me immense hope.

For I felt like I had tried everything I could think of to move forward, but nothing had worked. And likewise, I felt like I had explored every ideological position and school of thought I could find, but none of them, in my view, had an actual vision for change that I could believe in. I couldn’t imagine a real future for myself or the world at all.

But these drawings told me that a new world was still possible, even if I could not imagine it. They told me that I was capable of more than I was aware of, even if I couldn’t see it. That there was new life within me ready to come out, even if I had no idea what it was.

All I had to do was what I had done with these drawings — to just take one step at a time and let each action emerge intuitively, instinctively, and spontaneously from the last. No need for a goal, a plan, a vision, or even a purpose.

Nothing except the willingness to keep moving forward into space. And eventually — inevitably — something new and different will emerge.

So that is what I did. And my life did change in ways I never could have imagined.

to be continued

(The full collection of drawings may be viewed here)