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Surrealist Art by Phil Lancaster

REPLY TO BRENDON'S QUESTIONS:

Hi Brendon, thanks for your comments about my picture titled 'Self Assembly' the clue to this picture is really in the title self assembly, this is what the picture is all about, re-assembling the 'Self' after suffering a Schizophrenic Breakdown, by 'the Self' I mean re-assembling self image, self belief, self awareness etc, you know all the things which make up your Self. When you have a schizophrenic breakdown, its like being hit with a nuclear bomb inside your head, you feel as if your mind has been blown to pieces, at least I did, I felt my mind had been shattered or fragmented, your thought process is broken up so you cant think something from start to finish, I think this is why they call it a Break Down. anyway afterwards, if you survive it, your mind feels as if its in bits and you have to 'Re-Assemble' yourself, this is a long, lonely process, it took me about ten years and as I got better, it felt like I was assembling a piece of flat pack furniture, but without any plans of how to do it and with no one to ask if I was doing it properly...........so I made this picture. The clothes hanging up represent the naked vulnerability I felt at the time and the pieces of body parts represent 'bits of my Self' that I could recognise when I looked into my Mind, the mirror represents 'memory' you know 'Reflection' I had very little memory of how I was before the breakdown so this made it difficult to re assemble my self. The desert wasteland represents the emptiness, the lack of 'Me' in my Mind, the moon represents 'Madness' this is a brief description but I hope it's answered your questions, good luck with your course.

Best Wishes, Phil Lancaster

(this was in response to the letter by Brendon)