Sources Say Nobody Knows

Frieda Dean

The floating world of underwater organisms is portrayed with ethereal luminescence in Frieda Dean’s “Sources Say Nobody Knows.” Indeed, the mystery of the deep ocean’s plant and animal life still remains as much of a mystery today as ever, and Dean has expertly captured the unknown in a composition of quiet electrification: the jellyfish form is translucent and glassy against the blooming colors of the surrounding seascape; it’s form is only witnessed in the thin, bright white outline that fades in and out of sight. Dean doesn’t search for an explanation in her world as to why such an animal exists; she simply appreciates its enigmatic place in a world full of unknowns.