Emily Webb

(un)conscious

The subconscious human mind is a duality. It perplexes and confuses us while simultaneously explaining behaviors and justifying thoughts and actions. Humans subconsciously experience attraction, repulsion, and fear, whether it is rational or without identifiable reason. Phobias are often an irrational fear of other beings existing alongside us. Thalassophobia (fear of what is in the ocean), murophobia (fear of rats and mice), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), mottephobia (fear of moths), and arachnophobia (fear of spiders), are among the most common phobias experienced by people around the world. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the idea that our minds unconsciously display attraction. We are attracted to the elements we crave the most, whether it is the earth, water, fire, air, or metal. In alchemy, metals each have different meanings, all connected to humans, and could be considered the fifth element. The same force that draws a person to a body of water when dehydrated or deters them from a venomous creature can tempt them to get too close to a flame when cold or panic over something miniscule. Surrealists, theorists, alchemists, and tarot readers have all grappled with this concept. Whether or not there is an explanation, unconscious thought both informs and is informed by every factor of our lives. Spiritual practices and tarot cards attempt to draw from the subconscious in order to explain or comprehend thoughts and provide insight. This series of mixed media prints represents the dualities within the unconscious human mind alongside the factors that allure, repel, and attempt to interpret us as human beings.