New Art Vault Installation: How to Have a Flying Dream

A new immersive installation by interdisciplinary artist Nancy Dewhurst opens at Gallery One’s Art Vault with a reception on Friday, May 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public. 

How to Have a Flying Dream is a speculative investigation into the phenomenon of having a dream in which one is flying. At the heart of the installation is Dewhurst’s attempt to experience a flying dream through research and practice, treating the body and psyche as both subject and site for research. She draws inspiration from birds, insects, literature, and her lived and dreamt experiences, expressing these through objects, dream journaling, immersive imagery, and rehearsals of flight.

“Lucid dreaming can be likened to an embodied, analog virtual reality,” said Dewhurst. “The paradox of control and surrender offers opportunities to role-play alternate realities. It becomes a metaphor for broader negotiations of autonomy and desire within the waking world.”

Visitors are invited to engage perceptually to locate the vault code, the initial step in practicing shifts in awareness and a core principle of dream training. The installation transforms the Art Vault into an archive of Dewhurst’s investigations and performances. Elements include a digitized 16 mm film projected onto the ceiling, audio narration, and a series of bronze charms. 

While the installation adopts a playful tone, it engages complex questions around hope, desire, the construction of alternate realities, the shifting relationship between conscious and unconscious selves, and agency.

How to Have a Flying Dream will be on view through July 7. Gallery One is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Contact [email protected] to schedule an appointment to visit the installation outside of regular Gallery One hours. Gallery One is located on the first floor of City Hall at 1 Civic Plaza NW.

Learn more at www.cabq.gov/galleryone.