Astral travel can be defined as an intentional out-of-body experience – one in which consciousness functions separately from the physical body, emerging to embark on a journey through the astral plane and beyond. Flowing between real and unreal, other worlds become closer than they seem. Reaching out within her daydreams, imaginings and ruminations, artist Pat Basse creates and curates a surreal realm of strange familiarity.
Over her 40-year career Basse has explored the transcendental through her practise. Despite a gradual loss of sight, her expressive strokes capture the vibrancy of her dreams and memories in abstracted forms. Firmly believing that imagination can aid in overcoming despondency, Basse emboldens viewers to explore their creative power at will.
Visual Diary of an Astral Traveller reminds us that the mind is unhindered by human boundaries. If we open ourselves to the endless possibilities of the creative process, its transformative power is within reach for us all.
About the Artist
Pat Basse is a multimedia artist working in abstract realism and surrealism. With the Auckland Society of Arts, she participated in many group exhibitions before her first solo exhibition at Whitecliffe Galleries in the 1980s. Basse tutored screen printing at UXBRIDGE Arts and Culture shortly after its founding in 1981. In the following year, she exhibited alongside Malcolm Smith at the Canterbury Society of Arts printmakers exhibition.
She completed her Bachelor of Arts at The University of Auckland in 2001, majoring in Art History and English. The artist continued to participate in various national group exhibitions and art shows, having exhibited at the Fisher Gallery (now Te Tuhi) in the 1990s, Titirangi’s Upstairs Gallery in 2018 and most recently, the UXBRIDGE Wall Gallery in 2023.
Despite developing Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which causes a loss of central vision, Basse has continued to paint with expression and vibrancy.
