There is so much more to life than meets the eye, mainly because what we have the ability to perceive with any of our senses is so limited. We can’t see what’s on the surface most of the time, let alone what’s beneath it. Instead, we have to imagine it, and Ben Tolman is able to put to put his imaginings to paper in a breathtaking way. His work is whimsical but also has a creepy element to it, because the subject seems unaware of the life teeming on and around him, a reminder of our own unawareness. Tolman peels back the layers that obscure our vision, and draws a universe that is usually only visible under the influence of psychedelics. Like a psychedelic trip, his worlds make sense, a harmony of chaos, as if we are able to finally understand the meaning of things, but we still don’t know exactly what that meaning is. The point is not to know it, it’s to be happy with it.
Images via Door of Perception
