Owning Your Shadow-Denial

Art is a series of detours through the psyche. All of us have angels/ helping spiritis and demons, fears, Medusas in our lives. Facing them through art is healing. In the creative process you give birth to your soul. Becoming whole necessitates sacrifice. Sacre Facere is Latin for to make whole. I created three series of monoprint self portraits which explore my own dark side. Shadows create dimension and depth in art and in the individual.

Owning Your Shadow-Wakeup Call

Owning Your Shadow-Confrontation

Owning Your Own Shadow begins with Denial, denying the responsibility for anger and projecting it onto others. The second print, Wakeup Call, brings me face to face with confronting the anger, the painful standing and witnessing its powerful blast. I work hard at avoiding this step. But my life continues to remind me that step is crucial. The third work Confrontation, engages the anger nose to nose. Owning anger, acknowledging your responsibility, and engaging it is painful. The fourth monoprint, Illumination, creates the experience of seeing eye to eye that the shadow and the self are two sides of wholeness. Overlapping the profile images at the eyes created a fantastic butterfly goddess.

	Owning Your Shadow-Illumina

Wow ! Transformation. The gift of negative shapes in the whole series became goddesses. The fifth print, Enlightenment, integrates the anger, acknowledging and honoring it, symbolizing the beginning of wisdom, of seeing both sides - a Janusian head with the third eye of enlightenment. The last image is about the paradox of Wisdom, the setting of boundaries and honoring them in yourself and in others. Even when you think you understand the process, challenges continue. The unresolved monsters I inherit from the past and the ones I create will whack me to get my attention as long as I live. It's a good idea to pay attention to their messages.

Facing Medusa is a series of portraits depicting my own fear and anger. I've learned when you are angry or afraid it's about some unmet need in you. Emotions are wakeup calls and great teachers. Asking the question‹What is my emotion teaching me ? I learned it is NOT OK to express anger and fear especially as a woman. I wanted to see my dark side and honor it. Addiction to Perfection, Procrastination, Envy, Gluttony, Fear, and Anger brought me face to face with my own shadow.

Images of Grief, Loss, Pain, Acceptance, came into being after both my parents died. I took photos of myself grieving, then painted the images as watercolor monoprints. Letting go and grieving is a part of life. The last image came from a pentimento / ghost, the ink residue left on a plate after a print has been pulled. It brought me face to face with my own death.

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