Review: The Recurring Dream by Rocky Schenck
From The Recurring Dream, photos by Rocky Schenck © 2016, published by the University of Texas Press
By Ameer Khan
Rocky Schenck’s, The Recurring Dream, is certainly appropriately named. I felt immersed into the dream-like sequences as I flipped through each page. It somehow felt cohesive in a way that is impossible to materialize into language, the sentiment just seemed organic to me. It beckons back to a person’s recollection of a dream, usually hazy and blurred. It seemed capture a moment like a work of Impressionism. I could not tell if the landscapes were imaginary or not.
However, the homonymous image “The Recurring Dream” was unusual and contrasting in comparison to the assortment of images. It featured a colored image of a woman in a dress looking away while running through a clear path surrounded by trees. I associated it with a nightmare, she seemed to be running away from something. Yet, there seemed to be no fear in her face. It left me questioning as to why she was escaping. I looked fondly upon my uncertain emotions.
A question that comes to mind concerns the curation of the book. There was no mixing of the colored and black and white images, they were completely sectioned off and segregated. Dreams aren’t neatly compiled like this, they are spontaneous and unforeseeable. It is artificial in comparison to the human experience to have it arranged this way. I would love to learn the creative process behind the curation of the work.
From The Recurring Dream, photos by Rocky Schenck © 2016, published by the University of Texas Press
