Artist Susan kae Grant is releasing a new book titled Night Journey this autumn via MW Editions. The collection captures the subconscious through black and white photography that mimics the visual language of dreams. Grant has spent over two decades observing the mind at rest, a practice that began in the 1990s through her collaboration with a sleep laboratory at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Her process involves recording her own REM cycle visualizations to translate those internal experiences into physical images. These photographs feature silhouetted figures and animals in states of motion or suspense, such as houses spinning in storms or mysterious creatures in dark spaces. The book contains nearly 100 vignettes that use blurry edges and high-contrast light to suggest a space outside of everyday logic.
Publishers describe the work as an attempt to translate the chaotic nature of contemporary life into the visual shorthand of the dream state. Grant uses shadow puppetry aesthetics to ground these surreal scenes, making the intangible feel tangible. The book functions as a visual record of her long-term investigation into human sleep patterns.
Readers interested in the intersection of sleep science and fine art can look for the publication through MW Editions. The work serves as a formal catalog for her ongoing exploration of how we construct visual memories while we are asleep. Her career demonstrates a commitment to studying the architecture of the mind.