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| For those of
us who seek to create art in an authentic
way, inspiration comes from life as we live it. Our nighttime
dreams and stories, music, poetry and
the visual arts in their past and current forms inspire. Eventually we
find that the
flow of creative juice guides easily if we don't try too hard.
Studies in Jungian psychology
and mysticism have helped me to value and appreciate the
elusive path to a state of
"imaginatio",
or "true"
imagination. In alchemical texts, contact with a spiritual
creative force (at times pictured as a personification like a muse) can
occur as if by accident, in a meditative state or waking dream, through
staying with and suffering through not knowing
for as long as "it" takes. Imaginatio can be accessed in
conversations with inner guides that help us
to take
synchronicity seriously. As
Carl Jung says the images
that come from the unconscious can turn us
toward wholeness, self knowledge and the mysteries. Ever since I began to paint I've been drawn to the psychological and experiential (versus academic) approach to making art. While a student I tried different painting, drawing and printing mediums. I was urged to stay open to my creative endeavors long enough to allow the work itself to guide me to inquiry into the unknown. I believe that making art guided by instinct and intuition pays tribute to the humor and wisdom that our dreams and the synchronicities in life reveal. Without knowing or planning it there are times when a painting will express themes correlated to traditional religious or archetypal images. The themes are modified by personal context. At other times images or patterns "appear" on the painting surface that are not in any archetypal or mythological tradition but carry a numinous charge. Sometimes the art materials themselves are where the quickening happens in the imaginal realm. In Jungian psychology the psyche shows us the way. Imagery is an important part of many spiritual disciplines. Especially intriguing to me are the ancient alchemical texts. Anyone who's explored their own dream material finds that the images drawn up from the unconscious conjure a broad range of content, from the disturbing and shadowy to the sublime and whimsical. The way that I often begin is to make random marks or patterns on the surface of the painting without any preconceived plan. From there I keep working the surface intuitively. I try to leave it open for a long time before the image begins to gel. Often I'll paint over the images several times, destroying and renewing them. At other times I will start with a general idea and if needed, I will let the painting to morph into something else. Any hubris can cost when I just get it all wrong and have to toss the whole thing away. But at some point, if I'm lucky, something extraordinary can happen. Out of the blue I might hear a bell ring. I sense that Psyche or something beyond me is giving me a nod and that the painting and I are in agreement as to what we are trying to say. It reminds me of what the old alchemists were referring to when they talked of "turning lead into gold". I'm surprised at how much concentration and patience it can take to make images this way, and especially to completion. There are times when I've tossed a painting in the trash and retrieved it repeatedly. Occasionally a painting won't be finished for years, others are born complete. The process can be exciting and surprising, the journey being well worth the frustration of not knowing the outcome. French poet Paul Valery says the job of a poet (and other artists as well) is to induce in themselves and in others, a "state of poetry". He describes it as "completely irregular, inconstant, involuntary and fragile and...we lose it, as we find it, by accident". Here are some quotes about alchemy: "I've never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that's a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I've learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy. Perhaps much of it I'll never use in the books, but I have to know in detail what magic can and cannot do in order to set the parameters and establish the stories' internal logic." -JK Rowling “The alchemists in their search for gold discovered many other things of greater value.” Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860) "If by fire Of sooty coal th' empiric alchymist Can turn, or holds it possible to turn, Metals of drossest ore to perfect gold." -John Milton "You are an alchemist; make gold of that." Author: William Shakespeare "The alchemical operation consisted essentially in separating the prima materia, the so-called chaos, into the active principle, the soul, and the passive principle, the body, which were then reunited in personified form in the coniunctio or 'chymical marriage'... the ritual cohabitation of Sol and Luna." - C.G. Jung Mysterium Coniunctionis "Once I had this beautiful book in my possession, I did nothing but study it night and day, learning very well all the operations it described, but not knowing with what material it should be started. This caused me great sorrow, kept me in solitude, and made me sigh incessantly. My wife Perenelle, whom I loved like myself was greatly astonished at this, so I showed her this beautiful book, with which, the moment she saw it, she fell as much in love as I, taking extreme pleasure in contemplating the beautiful covers, engravings, images, and portraits, of which figures she understood as little as I did. Nevertheless, it was for me a great consolation to talk about it with her, and to consider what could be done in order to find out their meaning." - Nicolas Flamel (supposedly 14th century) Book of the Hieroglyphic figures, 1612. "Alchemy is the art of manipulating life, and consciousness in matter, to help it evolve, or to solve problems of inner disharmonies." - Jean Dubuis |
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| All
images on this page and in this Website
copyright
by the artist Gwen Sylvester, all rights
reserved.
Please do not reproduce any of the image files on this site without
express permission
from me, the artist. If you wish to post my art on your blog or
your
site, I ask that you kindly include a link to this site with the
image. Your questions or comments are
welcome. Please contact me for more information. My address is : gwens at gwi dot net (remove spaces and change to "@" and "." and curse email harvesting programs while doing so.) |
