Noah Douaihy
Lessons in Alchemy
Science maps the stars but forgets why we look up. Dreams paint the skies but vanish when the dawn breaks. Though often flippantly dismissed as nonsense, alchemy was a sincere effort to reconcile the differences between the world of dreams and physical reality.
By cutting up different personas, I test the notion that something compelling—beyond the personas themselves—will rise from the wellspring of paradox and reveal itself.
In less poetic terms: I wanted to challenge the way we perceive, as shapes and ideas can only come from merging the inner world of imagination with perceptions of the outer physical world. I chose two people who have played a major role in my life and dissected, cut up, and rearranged the personas they display to the world, in hopes of revealing the contradictions and convictions that make them such compelling forces in my life.