The third Hexikon that I created was Oneiros, which is the Greek word for dreams. Dreams have always been central to my artmaking, and many of my works have been directly inspired by dreams. This solid cedar cube was painted silver, which for me is the color of the moon, and therefore is symbolic of our nocturnal journeys. Usually, the images on Hexikons pair off on opposite sides of the cube to represent opposite meanings, but in Oneiros it is not so cut-and-dry. Dreams often have multiple meanings, and so they do not represent singular concepts, therefore the “opposite meanings” for this cube do not apply.

It’s hard for me to say what these ikons really mean. Our dreams are often subtle and contain many meanings – or perhaps no meaning at all. Dreams are, first and foremost, experiences that we have, like all experiences we have in our waking lives. Some of our experiences in life are meaningful and profound, but most are not. So it is with dreams: they may be quite profound and powerful, yet most remain simple experiences that cannot be analyzed. But they should be treasured and remembered, like all our experiences.

I believe that an interpreted dream is like a butterfly pinned to a board and framed on the wall. It is a beautiful thing, but ultimately dead. Dreams are living things which respond to our attention – and the more attention we pay to our dreams, the more they will respond. They cannot be interpreted into any kind of literal meaning, but should be meditated upon and cherished.

Dreams are gifts that we give to ourselves. Nobody can tell you what your dreams might mean, that is for you alone to discover. They are often based on emotions, and the key to any dream is the emotional content. Again, it is more of an experience rather than a metaphor to be interpreted, however you draw upon your personal library of symbols to create your dreams. It is that personal symbolic library that you can discover by working with your dreams.

I tend to wax poetic about dreams, and I even wrote a book on the art of dreaming, called Oneirognosis (which I will post on this blog very soon). Oneirognosis is available both in hardcover and paperback.