This journey began with the color blue
and ended with the color blue, but the in-betweens are full of dynamic,
iridescent hues. When I look back on when I began this journey of discovering a
story that was already woven within me, I remember being slightly skeptical, a
little afraid, and extremely curious. I have attempted in the past to find
peace, to find inspiration, to find meaning in the nuances of everyday living;
it was hard, and often, I was too exhausted to begin this journey. As a
practicing artist, process and self-synchronicity is extremely important to my approach
within my paintings and poems. This journey was meant to strengthen my soul and
also provide me with tools to guide other young artists on a journey towards
being agents of change in their artistic processes and practices.
The collage became not only a jumping off
point, but a beginning to a story told a million times through a million voices
in a million different languages. The collage began with old and new: of faith,
of family, of fate, of the familiar, and of the ephemeral. I saw familiar symbols
that followed me through the different chapters of my life and unearthed
symbols and discovered an archetype that I had inadvertently ignored most of my
life; the wolf/coyote. The wolf/coyote figure introduced itself to me through
the collage, and I explored the symbols and archetypes of the wolf/coyote
through these channels. From the visit at ARA and delving into the magnificent
library and archives, ultimately I discovered that I had attributes of the
wolf: a loner at times, but dependent on a pack, cunning, mysterious, nurturing,
protective, and at peace of ego. To also further enlighten, when I first began
the active imagination series, the wolf came to me, and has since then been a spirit
animal of sorts that allows me to delve into the unconscious that percolates to
the surface of my soul. Through practicing active imagination, I am able to be
at peace, to be inspired as an artist, to be aware, and an agent of my own
change. As a tool, I will make a point to practice active imagination at least
once a week, as this has given me the prospects of therapeutic tranquility,
inquiry, and self-sustainment. As an art educator, specifically an instructor
of painting and drawing, I am curious to implement active imagination within the
classroom for an assignment to see how students can interpret and practice observational
drawing and painting of the places within these other worldly reams. It could
be exciting, all encompassing, and profound.
After getting to know the wolf, I had
moved on to another symbol that has encapsulated my life ever since I could
remember: water. Water has been in my dreams, water gives me peace, water is a
premonition, water feels right. Water has been a sibling, a parent, and a
friend to me; it was time that I really understand how I can dialogue with
water to become more in tune with myself. From researching about water and its
archetypal histories, I came to understand often in dreams, water resembles the
unconscious. This discovery was extremely helpful to the extent that I can
interpret my dreams and active imaginations more clearly as the type of water illustrated
can give me a reflection into the emotions of my soul.
Through understanding the stages of
Submission, Containment, and Enactment in Moore’s Archetype of Initiation, and
retrospectively looking into the deep waters (no pun intended) of my symbol, I
am able to enact, through ludic behavior, with my symbol in order to not only
allow myself psychotherapeutic releases, but also delve into my artistic
practices more clearly and with conviction. As submission involves a conscious decision on the part of a person to submit to
the processes and ritual rites of passage it is meant to invoke, water became
ever present within all realms of living, this easily created a platform for me
to move into the containment process in which I created a vessel for I could
safely explore water and my relationship with its various archetypes. Moore described
enactment as the process of true practice: You have loosened up the surface and
controls of your ego. You have begun to sit a little looser with all these
ideas you have had about yourself. You really thought you were one thing, but
now you realize, “Wow, that may not be true at all!” So you sit a little looser
to it, and then you try on other possible personas and self-images: images of
parents, images of women and men, images of sex, and images of world, and so
forth. You do not have to commit to any of them, for no external authority is
pressing upon you. It has to feel right to you (p. 67). I
It feels right. I’m finally able to extend and
expand my artistic practice, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned with
others.
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