So what are we talking about here?

In this discussion, I will dive into how a few of my paintings have ventured into the world of psychology and how we relate to the world through our thoughts and feelings. My recent painting, Sabia (Dissonance) deal into my reaction to and feeling surrounding the late 2024 election cycle.

While I do have very strong personal feelings, my goal wasn’t necessarily to drive into those directly, but feel free to read between the lines if you wish. Partly, I believe that if you’re going to communicate something of this nature, it must be very direct and communicate a very specific point. In this case, I just decided to dive to the idea of reckoning with how information is delivered and how that leads to some level of cognitive dissonance. The conclusion that I came to was that it’s important to maintain focus on your needs in the needs of your community, but not to forget about what’s going on in the world At-Large.

Where the inspiration for this piece came about

I got the inspiration after discussing current events (the election) with my friend Kat. We were lamenting the way that people get overwhelmed and misdirected, and outright misguided, by propaganda from virtually everywhere, during an election cycle. This leads to not only panic, but also disassociation and manipulation.

Later I’ll discuss my thoughts on exploring this and I’ll go over a book that I drew some inspiration from to try and maintain balance with philosophy.

A brief history of psychology and art

There is a long and storied history of the arts engaging with psychology and cognitive function. Francisco Goya, for example, began his career creating courtly portraits but later transitioned to darker, more introspective works such as The Disasters of War and Saturn Devouring His Son. These pieces reflect the psychological toll of the Spanish Peninsular War, capturing how conflict reshaped his understanding of humanity’s fragility and cruelty.

Similarly, Edvard Munch’s The Scream underwent multiple iterations, exploring how anxiety shapes perception and emotional experience. This iconic work became a visual metaphor for existential dread, pushing boundaries in how emotion could be conveyed through art.

Early Surrealist artists, such as Salvador Dalí, found direct inspiration in psychoanalysis, particularly Freudian concepts of the unconscious. Their dreamlike imagery reflected internal conflict and irrational desires, opening new pathways for art to engage with the psyche.
Vincent van Gogh is another notable example. While it’s debatable how intentionally he explored psychology in his work, his deeply personal, emotive style—infused with bold colors and dramatic movement—was undeniably influenced by his unique perception of the world.

Getting a sense of the ‘presence’ of energy and emotional resonance

Sabia finds its roots in an earlier painting of mine titled Presence. Stylistically and conceptually, Presence was a precursor to Sabia, marking the first time I incorporated a meditative pose into my work. That piece was more exploratory in nature, focusing on the idea of meditation and the need to disconnect from the overwhelming stimuli of media and technology.
As I’ve progressed into my early 40s, I’ve become increasingly aware of how invasive technology has become, making it a practical priority to remain mindful of its influence on mental and emotional well-being. It felt inevitable that I would revisit this theme in a new way.

In Presence, I was still refining my approach, working intuitively with the human figure. Despite its exploratory nature, I believe it was a successful piece, as it allowed me to delve into the relationship between perception, energy, and physical space. Thematically, Sabia builds on these ideas while expanding into new territory.

Sabia also reflects my ongoing interest in how art engages with spirituality—not in the religious sense, but as Kandinsky described in his philosophical musings on the “spiritual in art.” I took inspiration from the emotionally charged works of Edvard Munch and the symbolic, meditative qualities of Hilma af Klint’s art. It’s important to draw a distinction between how art interprets spirituality and how religion approaches it. For those curious about this topic, I recommend Kandinsky’s book Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

Anxiety and Reflection in Earlier Works

In 2019, I created Meditation #1 and Meditation #2, which marked a significant moment in my personal exploration of cognitive health and anxiety. These pieces were raw and deeply personal, reflecting my efforts to manage anxiety through meditation and to engage with the world in a more mindful way.

Interestingly, both works resonated with others, and Meditation #2 even caught the attention of a neurological doctor, who became a client. While I’m not an expert in neurology, I feel that these pieces captured something universal about how we process and externalize anxiety.

Fin Du Monde deals directly with my response to the chaos I experienced in the middle of 2020. Inner Light Spectrum, on the other hand deals more with having a healthy relationship with your body and self-image.

Looking back, these paintings served as a bridge between my earlier works like Presence and the development of Sabia. They were crucial in pushing me to dive deeper into the psychological and emotional themes that continue to shape my work today.

How does Brazilian music play into this?


This painting was deeply influenced by a video I watched on YouTube about the Tropicália movement in Brazil during the 1950s and 1960s. This countercultural movement arose in response to the authoritarian government’s strict censorship, which mandated that mainstream musicians like Antonio Carlos Jobim produce work that portrayed Brazil in an exclusively positive light. In defiance of these rules, Tropicália artists like Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso crafted music that cleverly embedded critiques of the regime. Songs like Baby masked anti-consumerist messages beneath light, poppy melodies, using subtle parody to challenge the logical fallacies promoted by the state.

The song Sabia serves as another poignant example, almost acting as a response to the propagandistic expectations placed on musicians. Its lyrics are optimistic and uplifting, yet the slightly foreboding, dissonant musical arrangement creates a subtle tension. This contrast hints at deeper, unspoken realities beneath the surface, encouraging the listener to consider what is left unsaid.
I was particularly inspired by this juxtaposition in the song Sabia. In my painting, I sought to mimic the interplay between discord and harmony, using colors that are slightly jarring and clash together in ways that mirror the tonal contrast in the song. These dissonant color choices were intended to create an uncomfortable tension, a visual analogy to the underlying complexities in the music. This dynamic—where seemingly bright and harmonious elements carry an undercurrent of tension—became central to the composition.

What is ‘dissonance’?

I want to briefly touch on the concept of cognitive dissonance. According to the psychology website verywellmind.com cognitive dissonance is defined as such:

“Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this conflict causes unpleasant feelings of unease or discomfort.

The inconsistency between what people believe and how they behave motivates them to engage in actions that will help minimize feelings of discomfort. People attempt to relieve this tension in different ways, such as by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information.”
Succumbing to this dissonance is the root of a lot of current problems. It’s not quite about division but allowing a loss of empathy and fear to guide our thinking.

How dissonance is used as a tool, and maintaining focus in a distraction economy

Dissonance has likely been used for decades to curb or minimize critical thinking and stifle progress, especially in the United States. I know that’s a loaded statement, but maybe just let it marinate perhaps? But choosing comfort over doing hard work to make positive change is itself a conflict.

Cults, MLM’s and charismatic leaders use tools such as flattery, gaslighting and violent rhetoric, and confusion to increase cognitive dissonance on a large scale. People’s security is threatened, and it goes from there and so on. This occurs to the end that people ultimately loose grasp on critical faculties and are not aware of the inherent manipulation. There’s a lot that goes into treating this that is incredibly complex.

Finding time to focus on your goals and needs, and using critical thinking are a starting point to find balance in this environment.

What is in the iconography and imagery hiding throughout the painting?

As I created Sabia (Dissonance), I reflected on the tension between individual and collective needs—a theme inspired by Genis Carreras’s book Philographics. In this book, visual icons represent key philosophical concepts like existentialism, dualism, and egalitarianism, which directly influenced the composition of the painting.

By integrating these philosophical ideas into Sabia, I aimed to highlight the cognitive conflict between self-interest and the well-being of the community. This balancing act, while deeply personal, is also universally relevant, particularly in times of social and political upheaval. The inclusion of these concepts visually in the painting further emphasizes the internal struggle between these two forces, creating a dialogue that is both intellectual and emotional.

How dissonance is used against people, and finding balance

Many people and organizations use dissonance as a form of cognitive manipulation. It’s often used to get people to buy into MLM (multi level marketing schemes), cults, conspiracy theories, dangerous ideologies that promote violence and hate, etc. I specifically “hid” a pair of scissors in this painting cutting a large Q to illustrate a point. But at the end of the day, reprogramming people is a long process that requires a lot of empathy and humanity.

What I realized in exploring this is that it’s important to stress cognitive health for individuals. People need to keep focused on what is important to them and their own well being. But they also need to have empathy and community re-enforced.

Taking influence from Pink Floyd’s Animals album

Hidden within the composition of Sabia are subtle references to sheep, pigs, and dogs—a direct nod to Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals. While the album is loosely inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm, it departs from Orwell’s focus on totalitarianism to critique the political and social divisions of 1970s Britain, particularly in the context of the growing disparity between the classes. Roger Waters, in his album, uses these animal metaphors to comment on the power structures that divide society—sheep representing the docile masses, pigs symbolizing the corrupt elite, and dogs embodying the enforcers of power.

While Orwell’s Animal Farm critiques the manipulation and corruption within a totalitarian regime, Animals takes a more direct aim at the capitalist society of its time, with Waters calling out the systemic inequality and the selfishness of the ruling class. The album challenges the idea of societal harmony by exposing the exploitation of the masses by the powerful, showing how the cycle of oppression continues.

In Sabia, these references to the animals are woven into the fabric of the composition not as a central feature but as an additional layer of meaning. Much like Waters’s album, Sabia invites viewers to reflect on the broader societal conflicts, particularly the tension between individual self-interest and collective well-being. These subtle references serve to provoke thought about how power, wealth, and social structure shape our collective experiences, both historically and in contemporary times.

Unplugging from social media, mostly.

Due to many of the issues I have mentioned I am going to take active steps to move away from most social media. I still have open accounts on Meta platforms, but I will no longer actively post new content in these websites. I gave up on twitter years ago and Tik Tok always seemed like a bad joke to me. I wholeheartedly believe these platforms don’t give people the best possible representation of my work. Meta and X and even google only serve to spread misinformation and prey on people’s insecurity, whether actively or through benign neglect.

Being an artist for years has hardened me to a need for validation, and the platforms have cut any significant engagement through their algorithm years ago. I am not giving up on promoting my art, but I will seek other means. This is in my interest and the better interest of not promoting entities that show open contempt for their users through exploitation.

Final thoughts

As I reflected on these themes, I recognized the importance of staying grounded amid uncertainty. While it’s tempting to disconnect entirely from the chaos around us, it’s equally vital to remain engaged with our communities and values. Sabia (Dissonance) embodies this tension—between the need for personal stability and the responsibility to care for others.
Moving forward, I encourage a mindful approach: prioritize your own well-being while staying empathetic and connected to the world around you. Take care of yourself, value your community, and remember that the balance between individual and collective needs is a constant, yet worthwhile, pursuit.