Conceptual Statement

"Alien Proportions is a visual commentary on our collective imaginings and speculations regarding life on other planets. It represents all those things that alien theories remain: an intersection of astronomy, physics, biology, and fantasy. In its dreamlike manner, it beckons our potential as a universal species and calls to mind the types of strange and wonderous lifeforms we may encounter when interstellar travel becomes a reality. "  John Varriano   

The Ekphrasis, Alien Proportions

When creating works of abstract art, Varriano can begin by consciously guided communication with the unconscious, or he can abandon preconceived ideas and allow the unconscious contents of his mind to present their intentions on their own terms.

The Artist’s Abstract Dreamology, of which Alien Proportions is an example, represents the latter creative process. Varriano surrenders conscious control of the work when exercising this type of creative dialogue. Rather than directing his journey into the unconscious, he is directed by his unconscious, courageously trusting in the well of artistic and scientific knowledge he has accumulated during his many years of engagement with creativity to mediate the course of exploration. What emerged for Varriano during this particular collaboration with the underlying layers of consciousness were colors, forms, and abstract concepts that spoke of alien and mysterious life forms.

The large, luminous composition presents the viewer with a constellation of unusual species. To the right of the canvas, Varriano gives us an entity that appears robotic in origin, awakening from a deep slumber.  A pulsating line surrounding and haloing the figure’s head graphically represents the electrical currents that charge and animate this bionic machine. Fabricated in what appears to be a metal alloy, the figure is replete with conical spheroids and constructed parts that illustrate its non-organic genesis. To the left is a robotic companion encased in a shimmering, translucent veil.  Both figures display passive limbs as though they have been recently activated and are adapting to their slowly surfacing awareness. Although docile in physical expression, these mechanical entities have a latent power that suggests they were ideated in a modern, scientifically and technologically advanced world.

The two central figures—one rendered in jade green, possessing a lizard-like appearance and peering out to us through a oscillating, nebulous sphere, and the other, rendered in washes of amethyst and cerulean, with humanoid features and an androgynous body—move in synchronicity as intertwining forms.  Materializing from these figures, one wide-eyed and alert, the other hovering in a dreamlike reverie, are gradations and radiations of light.  A glowing beam emanates from the purple alien’s hand. Above its navel, an irradiating point extends outward to fashion an illuminating white triangle.  Varriano’s placement of wands in numerous alien hands creates a thematic motif. Each wand activates multiple light sources within the painting, arousing our appreciation for the magic that suffuses scientific and technological discoveries.

Another extraordinary extraterrestrial creature occupies the lower center of the canvas. Varriano offers us an insect-like entity with detached limbs, a glowing furnace-like face, and oddly, peculiar features. 

Throughout the painting, Varriano displays mechanical, electrical, and technological creations existing within the sphere of a distant and different planet from our own.  Alien Proportions is undoubtedly intergalactic in its inventive depiction of exotic, foreign life-forms; at the same time the work can also be characterized as portraying inner realms and realities, presenting the viewer with a map of the way bizarre, fantastical, and visionary ideas rise and ruminate within the minds of humankinds most gifted scientific and technological communities.