Interesting what you said about needing a trip into the unkown. I agree. Somehow, though, I find myself turning chaos into some sort of perceivable order. And, I need to start from a place of safety: too much chaos undermines possibility. Exploring this process is certainly interesting though! I love hearing what works for other creators! And, these images are fascinating! I love the fluidity and the textures!
Chaos is at the beginning of Greek creation myth. From Chaos comes order and eventually Entropy sets in (a law we cannot escape from) and we return to chaos - it is in my mind a recurring cycle that repeats itself indefinitely on a cosmic level. I cannot create ex nihilo (creation out of nothing) - a blank canvas is frightening, I have to create a mess (chaos) to which eventually I bring order. Each step in the process opens another gate to imagination. Of course without steering the process a mess will likely remain a mess, unless we have the time to see the results of infinite monkeys on typewriters that will produce every possible finite text an infinite number of times. So in a way, I am not lucky to achieve the results I do, but rather there is method in my madness.
Ah, yes, chaos is foundational to Creationism beyond the Greeks as well. You've described this whole cycle very well. Speculation here... Perhaps there is a hidden or underlying basic order to the fragments that will become something more recognizable as you build and make choices. Do you ever wonder about that? I agree that we can't create from nothing, we are not God. We rearrange the parts and pieces before us, with the capacity and voice that we've been given, in hopes of stumbling upon some successful bit of brilliance occasionally. Good for you for having a grasp on how this looks in your world.