Personal Myth, Collective Dream
For the last few months I've been focusing on getting ready for my exhibition at artSPACE Durban. I decided to go ahead with this exhibition even though I am still working towards my masters as I have found that I need an unmoveable deadline to really get me to focus. I am rather a diffuse individual and can float around my studio trying different things for months on end and an exhibition can help me to consolidate, take stock and then move forward in a well thought through direction.
So this is, as I see it, the beginning of my masters and really the tip of an iceberg as far as both the theory and practice are concerned.
Below is the artist statement for this exhibition named 'Personal Myth, Collective Dream'
Joseph Campbell talks of personal myths as dreams
and collective dreams as myths.
Each of us
has a personal myth that shows itself to us through our dreams. It further
reveals itself through the patterns in our lives, choices we make, stories we
are drawn to and images we work with. Our myth impacts our everyday lives and
influences who we are and how we behave.
When we become aware of our mythology, both on a
personal and a collective level, through a journey into the psyche we gain the
opportunity of facing and changing our story. Each part of the journey brings
us a step closer to Individuation which, in Jungian terms, is a transforming
process where the personal and collective unconscious are integrated into
consciousness.
One of the ways this journey is being explored is
through my artwork.
The theme of the forest in my oil paintings represents
that journey into the psyche, an unknown environment in which the adventure
takes place. In order to capture the atmosphere of the forests I have focused
on mark making and tone using ‘Grisaille’ (grey scale) allowing forms to emerge
from the tones and the marks.
Hermes, in ancient Greece, was the mythological
messenger of the gods and god of transition and boundaries. He features in my
work as a guide on my journey into the myth in the form of winged shoes and feet.
My childhood love of Pollock’s Miniature Theatres
inspired my three dimensional theatres and two dimensional etchings. Each
construction embodies one of the ‘rooms in my mythological house’. In
analytical psychology the house represents the psyche. The sets; story, decor,
characters and images symbolize aspects of my psyche that I am endeavouring to
become aware of, accept and befriend. There is also something metaphorical
about ‘The Theatre of Life’ and acting out the scenes.
Think of all the legends, myths and faerie stories where
one finds a house in the forest and the guide that, in various forms, helps the
protagonist to find a way out. These narratives link us all past and present-
all part of the Collective memory.
This journey is ongoing.
The forests I have painted symbolize the journey into the psyche. The forest is not a welcoming place and the journey not easy, but if undertaken promises to help us confront and embrace ourselves fully. Warts and all. As mentioned above the paintings are purely tonal using an adapted version of the technique known as 'Grisaille'. All oil on canvas.
