Yep. Tiny sets, built in her studio, and then photographed. Thank goodness for that last photo, because I was having a hard time figuring out what kind of cotton-candy magic I was looking at! This is the work of Netherlands based artist Lisanne Hoogerwerf, and these are her poetic words that  explain this world she has created:

“Pictures keep appearing in my head, scenes without any clear relationship to mundane reality, landscapes inhabited by strange figures and filled with peculiar buildings. These images seen by the mind’s eye happen during a relaxed state of mind, also known as the Alpha State. The inner worlds then arising are emptied of the stresses and strains of everyday life. Neither busy traffic and urban architecture nor people to be seen.

In materializing and externalizing these images, I build such landscapes as small-scaled sets on a large table in my studio. By using materials like spray-paint, wood, wire, sand and stone, I transform these fugacious images from a mental into a physical reality. I then photograph and/or film these settings, after which I destruct the created scenes.

The resulting pictures show deserted places including faint notions of (earlier) human activity. There could be a billboard, a playground, or an emptied swimming pool. Almost nothing happens, yet these dreamlike scenes suggest that something has happened or is going to happen still.

I consider art as an important means to deepen the connections within ourselves. The deeper layers of our minds are filled with unknown images and messages. I want to focus on the inner ‘pictures’ and visualize them for you to see, too.”

Sigh. Beautiful.