Over the past 10 years I have concentrated on interpreting images of the landscape.

I particularly enjoy hovering in the space where subject matter recedes and paint

becomes paint, recombining to form new images, some more objective to the viewer than others.​ In my most recent body of work REMscapes I have explored this nebulous space

in more depth, placing particular emphasis on the ambiguity of reflections. It is in the

rendering and interpretation of reflections that the imagery becomes more abstract.​

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At times, the phrase, “painting in my sleep,” comes to mind. Often in that period between wakefulness and sleep, images of the landscape float in and out of my conscious thoughts.
They shift about, turn around, rearrange compositions, alter colour, are parts of a whole

and a whole of their many parts. They dissolve, and in so doing become abstractions of

their earlier forms. Then sleep comes, and the images take on a life of their own.

Fortunately, I am able to recall some of these from that period of sleep referred to as

“the REM state.”​

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The REM state has been compared to an off line computer, it is the mechanism that

connects us to reality. When the input of sensory imagery is ‘shut off,’ the brain will make metaphorical images resulting in dreams that often feel much richer in imagery than our waking reality. Our imagination will give us conscious access to the REM state. ​

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These works are the results of this rewarding imaginative process, in their rendering

I hope to also impart a sense of the joy I experienced in creating them.

Alice Burton
December, 2012