Signal Rating: 8/10 — Strong
Classification: Hallucinatory

This painting by Ryan Louder is part of a body of work shaped by his neurological condition — Narcolepsy with REM Intrusion Hallucinations, clinically confirmed via MSLT at Guy's Hospital, London. The work contains hallucinatory imagery — geometric form constants, phosphene-like patterns, and perceptual structures consistent with REM intrusion.

Neuroaesthetic markers identified: self-luminous forms — rain-streak marks radiate from dark ground; boundary dissolution — gorilla form partially dissolves into luminous painterly field; Klüver form constants (diagonal line array); figure-ground collapse; form emergence from dark background; phantom figure quality in lower body dissolution

These markers are not deliberate artistic techniques but direct visual recordings of what REM intrusion hallucinations look like. The imagery emerges from neurological experience, not metaphor. Ryan has painted over 2,000 works, with over 1,000 originals sold. Each painting in this collection has been subjected to neuroaesthetic forensic analysis to identify and catalogue the perceptual phenomena present.

A young gorilla is depicted from the chest upward, holding two pale sticks or stalks in both hands. The animal's face is rendered with attention — dark eyes direct, a round wide forehead, black fur built from layered strokes — and is the most resolved area of the image. The background is a near-white luminous field providing no environmental context. The body dissolves in the lower portion, dark fur becoming diffuse against the pale ground. The pale objects in its hands provide the main colour contrast — golden-yellow against dark — and create a visual axis across the composition. The face is fully committed; the rest is allowed to fade.

Materials used:

Oil on paper

Details:

• Oil painting on Paper
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 43.18 x 60.96 x 0.51cm (unframed)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Photorealistic
• Subject: Animals and birds

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