I’m working in Exaggerism; a kind of sensory meditation on making something feel more real than real. Not by pushing sensation beyond what our bodies can handle, but by working within the limits baked into our perception: our susceptibility to distortion, illusion, emotion, and hallucination. Those flaws aren’t failures; they’re tools. And when exaggerated, they can heighten reality instead of obscuring it.
I was trained as an animator, and one of the twelve core principles; exaggeration; isn’t just a trick; it’s a law. To make something feel truly alive, you have to push it beyond itself. Motion, expression, energy; they become more real the further they bend past realism. That applies to our sensory experience as well: how things move, how we relate to them, how we feel them.
Before this practice, my work focused on disrupting the viewer’s perception through design and symbolism; fracturing the image through meaning. Now, I’m interested in pure impact. No cultural, narrative, or symbolic bridges.
I work out of the best studio in Ottawa: an old Vanier Catholic school from the late ’40s, covered in blacksmith-forged nails, hand-drawn fire escape plans, strange murals, and decades of design ghosts. The place sings. The legion of artists working here are relentless. It’s electric.
I’m influenced by Æmen Ededéen, Max Ernst, Syd Barrett, the Brixton Windmill scene, Adrian Ghenie, Denis Sarazin, and a whole mess of Ottawa’s finest; Tiffany April, Atticus Gordon, Martin Golland, Ferhat Demirel, and many more.
As I exaggerate, I head further into sensation; further from safety. It’s not about winning anything. It’s about getting closer to something raw and unfiltered: by pushing reality until it reveals itself. - Scott Ferguson
