Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.
Signed on the back.
In 345AM, Stiles Be ventures deep into the realm of the subconscious, offering a raw, visceral expressionist piece that captures the immediacy of thought and emotion as it emerges from the unconscious mind. Painted in the stillness of the early morning hours, when the world sleeps and the mind is most free to wander, this black and white abstract work reflects the surreal quality of thoughts during that liminal time between wakefulness and sleep.
The piece prominently features a skull, its form barely distinguishable amidst swirling, ghostly white lines and shapes that float across the black background. These forms twist and turn, almost as if they are untethered, creating a dreamlike sense of motion. Hints of purple and teal subtly break through the monochromatic palette, offering brief glimmers of color that suggest fleeting thoughts or emotions—ephemeral and elusive, like memories that rise and fall within the mind.
The time, 3:45 AM, scrawled prominently in the lower left, holds significant weight within the piece. It is a timestamp that both grounds the work and serves as a marker of its creation during a period when thoughts are uninhibited, and the conscious mind is at its quietest. This hour represents the artist's embrace of intuition—when the barriers between the conscious and subconscious begin to dissolve, allowing for a pure flow of creative energy. The skull, too, may symbolize the presence of the subconscious mind itself—a reminder of mortality and the inner workings of thought that are constantly, but quietly, operating beneath the surface of consciousness.
The process of creating 345AM was driven by spontaneity, with Stiles Be allowing instinct and inner feeling to guide the brush rather than deliberate planning. Each line appears to move with an almost automatic quality, suggesting the artist’s hand was influenced by the subconscious rather than external control. This automaticity results in a composition that feels fluid, dynamic, and alive—capturing the essence of thought as it drifts and reforms in the depths of the mind.
The inclusion of subtle colors, such as purple and teal, adds an ethereal quality, hinting at emotions or memories that are not fully present but still linger in the background. These colors provide a sense of depth and dimension, enriching the visual experience while also representing the complexity of subconscious thought.
In 345AM, Stiles Be invites the viewer to step into the liminal space of the subconscious, to experience the fluidity of thought as it moves between conscious understanding and the vast unknown of the mind’s interior. The piece becomes a meditation on the act of creation itself, an exploration of how art can become a direct channel for the unspoken and unseen forces within us all.