James Bennett

A Dream Fantasy James Bennett

The eighty monotype illustrations reproduced full-page and in full-color in this exquisitely beautiful book are based upon images from the artist's dream journals and his experiments with the subconscious. A 4,500-word, epic poem composed impromptu by the artist accompanies his surreal illustrations. The artwork, together with the poem, portrays the timelessness (acknowledging ties to antiquity) that permeates much of the dream imagery. Bennett's art has the appearance of ancient documents that are fragmented, weathered, and torn, thereby portraying the fragmented quality of dreams -- the difficulty remembering dreams in their entirety and how easily they slip from our memory. Bennett's surrealism reminds us that dreams are described in the most ancient stories, both religious and secular.