Who is watching who? Is what you see true?

A psychological exploration of the surreal stream of consciousness: who is really watching whom? Is what is seen true? If anyone can combine cute animals with grotesque and bizarre dreams and still present an organic, unified and uncontradictory sense of art, it is Naoto Hattori.

Born in Yokohama, Japan in 1975, Naoto Hattori studied painting in Tokyo and New York, where he was inspired by the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures, giving his paintings a surrealist style.

In his works, we can see a lot of animal elements, but they seem to be unreal, as if they come from an alien planet, a combination of extraterrestrial and earthly life, showing an unrealistic and evocative sense of unity.

Naoto Hattori confesses that his works follow his own imagination without being secular.

He admires the painters who lived hundreds of years ago, when there was no exquisite technology and craftsmanship, and whose works are the testimony of blood and tears, the cries of the unyielding in the fire, the most authentic and simple topography of nature.

He admired the love of art of his predecessors, and this reverence became the spiritual pillar of his deep commitment to the field of art for many years.

Naoto Hattori has never been one to compromise with reality, he does not want to paint what people want to see, he only wants to paint according to his own consciousness, just like the saying "Writing, first to please oneself, then to please others", art is always connected.

Among Naoto Hattori's many works, the one that leaves the deepest impression on people must be the large surrealist eyes. Looking at it, one can't help but think, "Am I looking at it or is it looking at me? This is perhaps the highest level of lifelike.

Surrealism

Surrealism is a genre of art that originated in the West during the two World Wars.

Surrealism deals with the subconscious in psychology and is therefore shrouded in mystery, and because of its "surreal" nature, this type of artwork cannot be fully interpreted, and its meaning is open and varies from person to person.

In fact, in modern society, human beings are imprisoned in reality, and all they think about every day is money, making it difficult for them to appreciate the profound meaning beyond the mundane.

Surrealism, as the name implies, is beyond reality, but not completely beyond reality. It is based on the elements of reality, supplemented by the grotesque and bizarre subconscious in the dream world, and presents the consciousness in the artist's own mind in the form of pictures.

What it pursues is the original face of consciousness, and art may only be a form of expression, but its real content has already seeped into the painting, invisible, and what you see is what you see.

In fact, the real charm of this kind of surrealist works does not lie in the paintings themselves, it comes from reality but goes beyond it. For each person, what you see is a reflection of your internal qualities.

Projective tests

In psychology, projective tests share similarities with such works, and are tests developed by clinical psychologists to help people get out of emotional distress.

A projective test is one in which the researcher first presents ambiguous material, ambiguous because different people have different perceptions of the material, such as a piece of ink, an ambiguous pattern, and so on.

Then the researcher asks the subjects to explain the pattern, and leads them to unconsciously project their emotions, desires, attitudes, thoughts, etc. It is worth mentioning that such a test method has the limitation that people must participate under the guidance of a professional, and it is most taboo to measure independently and then draw arbitrary conclusions.

Among the projective tests, two methods are commonly used: the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test.

The Rorschach Inkblot Test, developed by psychiatrist Rorschach, consists of ten pictures that resemble infiltrated ink, which are eventually combined into a larger, complete picture.

First, the researcher asked the subject to look at the picture and then asked the subject to describe what he or she saw.

Afterwards, the subject was asked to look again, and the researcher used the first response as a basis for asking more in-depth questions, while the subject's eyes, movements, and certain responses were recorded, and the final judgment was made.

The Thematic Apperception Test, developed by psychologists Murray and Morgan, measures the implicit needs of individuals.

We all have needs, some of which we are not aware of, but which have an impact on the current behavior or task, and these needs are implicit.

I believe we have all heard of "selective amnesia", which refers to the possibility of selective amnesia to protect an individual from harm after experiencing a significant negative event and feeling overwhelmed by such memories.

The needs involved in this selective forgetting may become implicit needs, which is what is measured by the subject matter auditory test.

In fact, whether it is a surrealist painting or a projective test, we will more or less reveal our inner thoughts when evaluating something, and people always think that it is an evaluation of the outside rather than their inner monologue.