paul laffoley

paul laffoley's work is the nexus point of an extraordinary confluence of thought and craft and if you look really carefully you'll almost certainly find evidence of most of the academic and artistic disciplines symbolically embedded in its labyrinthine forms.

paul's approach to his work is based on extensive hand written journals in which he documents his research, diagrams, and various theoretical developments. he has organized his work into three sub-groupings: "operating systems, psychotronic devices and lucid dreams".

while inherently decorative in the way that artwork depicting technology can be, paul's work compels the viewer to dig deep below the surface to consider the reasoning behind the presence and juxtaposition of his work's many symbolic components. among other things, you'll notice that his work is organized in a format that is visually related to mandalas. as with mandalas, each piece is integrated into a whole, but carries its own symbolic weight.

it might not surprise you to learn that each canvas can take one to three years to paint and code.

take for example the orgone machine.

(click on the image to enlarge it)

paul very generously supplies background information, as well as a symbolic interpretation of the key element of the graphic.

to view more of his work, and to buy copies of his work then visit his page at the kent gallery.