Ray Caesar is renowned as one of the pioneers of digital art, and for his depiction of a vast and complex inner world. His images present a cast of figures he refers to as dolls dressed up in myriad historical costumes and interpreting a variety of cryptic roles. The environments they inhabit are equally uncanny: pastoral landscapes, nostalgic seafronts or neo-classical interiors, idealised imaginary scenes where animals become human and organic plants come to life like triffids. In Ray’s world, everything from historical eras to instinctive animal natures collide and cross-pollinate. An undercurrent of Dickensian macabre runs through the work, juxtaposed with a thread of clinical technology, together with a sense of romantic nostalgia and at times a gentle innocence. Sinister and sweet, surreal and symbolic, Ray Caesar’s images are an adventure into the unconscious imagination.
Ray Caesar (b.1958 in London, UK) is celebrated as the grandfather of digital art. At an early age, his family moved to Toronto, Canada, where he currently lives and works. Caesar’s vision resonates with the changing psyche of his figures, reflecting memories of his childhood and experiences gathered over 17 years working in the art therapy department of the Hospital For Sick Children. His work is collected by the Hearst Family, Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, Madonna, the Bristol Museum, and selected by the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Modern Art, New York & Guggenheim, New York.
