"EDGE OF THE DREAM" by Kim Randleas

At the center of this 48-inch circular painting is a man quietly smoking a peace pipe. Bluebirds surround the outer edge and a ring of gold leaf encircles the figure. The circle suggests horizon, halo, and continuity, a symbol of wholeness and the enduring hope for peace. When the viewer activates the music box, the praxinoscope turns and the melody of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, begins to play. Written just before the Second World War, the song carries a quiet longing for a place beyond conflict and fear. That historical moment resonates with the image of the peace pipe, an ancient symbol of reconciliation and shared humanity. The title Edge of the Dream reflects a tension between hope and reality. Humanity often seems to stand just one step away from the dream of peace, both in our personal lives and in the world. We circle it, glimpse it, and sing about it, yet remain on its threshold. As the praxinoscope spins and the music plays, the boundaries between waking and dreaming blur. Motion emerges from stillness and the viewer is suspended between reality and imagination. This work is part of a planned series of ten to twelve circular kinetic paintings, each exploring the fragile boundary between movement and stillness, history and memory, and dream and waking life. Edge of the Dream continues the kinetic painting series that began with Buffalo Running, 1883. This body of work is inspired by the motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge and his attempt to break movement into moments that the eye alone cannot fully perceive. In these works the painting becomes only one part of the experience. A praxinoscope set into the piece animates the image and allows stillness and motion to coexist, echoing Muybridge’s early investigations into how images come alive when time is introduced.