Art Show: Into Unconsciousness: Freud, Phobias & Recurrent Nightmares
Prospectus and Entry Instructions
Exhibit Entries accepted from 7/15/2002 to 8/31/2002.
Prospectus
Into Unconsciousness invites artists to reach into their depths and depict the images and themes that haunt them. The artist is limited only by her imagination and skill. One can explore madness, neuroses, archetypal fears, recurrent dreams & nightmares, and phobias that may seem silly to the outside eye, but evoke real fear for the individual. Whether it is global or personal is up to the artist.
There is a certain power in confronting the images and ideas that haunt you. Our hope is to engage the artist in a struggle to make visible their demons, whether personal or imagined, and regain power over them by harnessing them as art.
This is a Juried Show
Juror: Dr. Tricia Milford
Juror's Statement
The prospectus for this show, by inviting the artists to engage themselves in a struggle to "make visible their demons," invites the kind of conceptual work that addresses deeply personal issues. As the juror I looked for work that went beyond representing the artists' fears and the images that haunt them to engaging the "audience" actively and meaningfully with the piece itself. Thus I have selected pieces which I believe work to make sense of the world for the artist and for the viewer. Not only do these pieces make the demons visible thereby empowering the artists to "make sense" of them both literally and figuratively but they also invite the viewers to face their own demons and gain some measure of control over them.
Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Every experience deeply felt in life needs to be passed along - whether it be through words and music, chiseled in stone, painted with a brush or sewn with a needle. It is a way of reaching for immortality." I am not sure that for me creating art is an attempt to reach for immortality so much as an attempt to make sense of my experiences and feelings. There is an essential link between my creating art and the spiritual. Deeply felt experiences in my life are transformed by my art as part of my personal search for the spiritual and the sacred. This particular exhibition does just that.
I am a sculptor, a board member of PSA, a professor at California University of PA, and a mother. I work predominately in fibers and my most recent series are a series of books. My work deals with the concept of meaning and the creation of meaning. My books attempt to engage the "audience" actively in the process of the co-creation of meaning. They are assemblages of eclectic materials and artifacts from 20th century culture. Because we think of books as "containing" information people are prepared to "read" meaning into the work. In order to read a book one must open it and read it so using this form the viewer is automatically invited to interact at a physical, psychological, emotional and intellectual level with the work. Themes addressed in the books range from social commentary to personal relationships and often comment upon or question ethical, moral or spiritual aspects of our lives.