Michael Bilotta in the visionary 4th issue of Model Society Magazine
Through my art, I explore the inner terrain of the mind …
… the fears, the hopes, the personal and universal human condition expressed through metaphor and allegory. My images are surreal dreamscapes, conceived by piecing the individual photographic images together one at a time. They usually begin instinctively, with no concept in mind, until one is revealed through the process of improvisation, and the concept is then fleshed out further once it forms. The people, places and objects in the imagery are taken separately, and with these raw pieces, I assemble something that straddles both the personal and the symbolic surrealism, with something that is collective and focused.
In my current work …
… I am exploring the individual at a crossroads in life, turning inward and facing who we are and what it means to be human at the fundamental level. I am using the guise of fantasy and surrealism to illustrate something meaningful and personal that speaks to me and hopefully resonates with others as well.
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As humans, we have a desire to live, but know that death is inevitable.
We feel terror and create solutions in the form of religion and a belief in the afterlife. Looking back, I think the terror of it was always there for me, always closer to the surface than is probably wise. As I age, I am preoccupied with it more and more. It occupies my thoughts, and robs me of sleep. I have only ever had one strategy to manage my terror: the creation of art that will last beyond my years, that will be linked to who I was and be regarded fondly or profoundly. I do not believe in the afterlife, I do not believe in Heaven or Hell, and I do not believe in the immortal soul. I wish that I did.