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The Oneiroscopist

(Dreamed?) and painted 1947 by Edith Rimmington

Rimmington was an English surrealist with an interest in dreams (surprisingly rare, as I explore the broader Surrealist movement--most dreamlike surrealism was waking juxtaposition (sometimes impulse, often chance) or consciously planned... to shock. Painting real dreams would be too simple.

True even here. "Oneiroscopist" means dream-watcher or dream-observer, implying this isn't a dream figure Rimmington met, but her portrait of the process of dreamwork. You suit up (with dream-interpretation theory?) for protection against the pressures of a dive into the deep unconscious... never realizing you're as weird a monster as anything you'll face in the abyss.

The Oneiroscopist, 1947 dream painting by Edith Rimmington. Click to enlarge.
In fact, that long bony beak (the real you?) won't even fit in that round, human helmet (your self-image?) Good luck with your dive, Oneiroscopist! You'll need it.

SOURCE: The English Surrealists by Desmond Morris, pp 188-9.


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