About the Somnium Series

The Somnium series is an exploration of memory, permanence, and the maps we construct to navigate existence. Twelve dreaming clouds, permanently suspended inside optical glass cubes, serve as both a physical evolution of and a philosophical companion to the larger-scale Sentinels series. If the Sentinels stand as massive, weathered monuments of digital surrealism, Somnium (Latin for “dream” or “vision”) represents those very same giants made tactile, brought down from the infinite sky into a form that can be held in the palm of your hand.

At its core lies a fundamental human tension: the desire to find our bearings in a world that never stops changing. Clouds are elastic, ephemeral metaphors of the self, easily lost in the vastness of the universe. But just as ancient mariners looked past the fog to find fixed points in the night sky, Somnium uses the concept of constellations to anchor our sense of place, trapping these fluid forms inside rigid, mathematical glass and turning fleeting moments into permanent celestial coordinates, fixed points of identity to steer by.

The Craft and the Vessel

Each piece began as a complex cloud and cloth simulation, sculpted with a classical focus on tension, weight, and form. Translating these volumes into physical crystal required sub-surface laser engraving: millions of microscopic, light-catching fractures precisely suspended inside the glass. The glass itself had to become the medium of light: engineered to refract, catch, and scatter it, each sculpture shifts in character with the viewing angle, gleaming intensely under direct light or holding a quiet, nebular glow in the dark.

The narrative begins long before the glass meets the light. In the larger digital works, the clouds are often draped in heavy cloth, a motif of identity and self, of being forgotten in order to be re-discovered. For Somnium, the custom paper box takes on the role of this protective covering. Debossed with a textured seascape, each cover carries a hidden, entirely unique element: a solitary ship, some afloat and searching, others lost as shipwrecks. Opening the box is the act of discovery itself, shifting the viewer from the turbulent, dark waters of the exterior seascape into the pristine, illuminated clarity of the celestial cloud within.

The Hidden Connections to the Sentinels

Through these deliberate design choices, Somnium remains deeply tethered to the broader Sentinels lore:

The Navigational Grid: The 12 forms represent a sequence of internal coordinates: the archival cores of the Sentinels, captured at precise moments of emotional or atmospheric alignment.

The Artist’s Gaze: Securing the top of the enclosure are solid brass washers, each micro-etched with the unique pattern of the artist’s own iris, a literal and metaphorical compass marking the cardinal directions, and a lens inviting the viewer to look through the artist’s eye and gaze out beyond the stars.

A Shift in Perspective: While the Sentinels look outward to guard the horizon, Somnium looks inward. Instead of looking up at a towering skyward form, you look down into a contained universe, holding the very coordinates of your journey in your hands.

Ultimately, Somnium is an invitation to pause and find your bearings: a tangible archive of the sky, a map made of clouds and light, built to ensure that even the most fleeting parts of who we are are never truly lost.