Pareidolia: In-House Artist to Admire

Pareidolia is derived from the Greek word para: beside & eidolon: Image, shape, or form. Pareidolia is the ability where the imagination overpowers the perception and lets you see faces in everything be it living or non-living. It was considered as a symptom of psychosis but now as a human tendency. Pareidolia is common in art as well. Our celebrated artist Manoj D. whose pareidolia factor is highly activated sees faces in every object whether living or nonliving.

“My artwork is very closely related to human psychology. It is based on a phenomenon called ‘Pareidolia’. Which means I see ‘Faces’ in whatever I see. Be it humans or not humans, living or nonliving, mobile or immobile. We’re humans constantly speak to ourselves inside our minds. Everyone speaks to themselves in the language of their choice. I speak to myself in form of ‘Faces’! These faces are largely dependent on my emotions. I see calm and relaxed faces when I’m at peace. Conversely, I see furious and frightening faces when I’m not.”

Art is often subjective and it is open to a multitude of interpretations and readings. Giuseppe Arcimboldo was an Italian painter who used assembled animals, books, fruit, flowers, fish, and vegetables to create imaginative portraits of people. Just as Arthur C. Danto states in The Wake of Art, “Artworks have no power, just as they have no beauty, at least as objective characteristics.” (1998: 45), and as such, it is only our conditioned subconscious that finds a pattern, form, and meaning in abstract shapes, along with the influence of context and external data.

I’m developing the visual language of my artwork based on this i.e. Pareidolia and emotions. Hence I said earlier that my artwork is closely related to human psychology. While thinking of this, I often travel back in time and get back all the old visual memories, even those, which are hidden deep down in a dark corner of my heart. This visual world is as magical to me as the ‘Parallel Universe of the Boy Wizard’. This magical world is where I find inspiration for all my artwork.”

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