Derek Boswell & Scott Waters: Sleepscapes

In this exhibition, Derek Boswell and Scott Waters explore the aesthetics of night. When darkness falls, these artists venture out into streets, woodlands, and neighbourhoods to observe how night invents new experiences, sensations, and ways of seeing the world. Evolutionary scientists argue that our nearly universal ‘fear of the dark’ is, in actuality, an instinctual trepidation of night since it makes human beings vulnerable to threats we cannot see, be they poisonous flora, preying animals, or unknown terrain. However, as Boswell and Waters suggest, the night is also a captivating mystery that struggles to be put into words—the unfamiliar or unexpected hidden by the dark can produce extraordinary visions which compel us to take a different look at where we live and who we are. For both artists, looking into the night is an encounter with endless possibility.