"Psyche"

2ft. x 3ft. Oil, Gold Leaf on Birch

 

This piece represents the fragile nature of the personal psyche and how easily it can be influenced by outside forces as well as inner forces.  The three female figures are the same person while the two male figures are the same as well.  The female figures are representations of different parts of the psyche while the male figures represent the influence that the outer world has on the psyche.  The tiny stars represent thoughts while the birds represent vehicles of communication, i.e. visual, audio, or psychic communication.  The small trees represent the parts of the brain where the thought coalesce, visually resembling dendrites.  The two figures on the left are attempting to influence the thought of the central figure by sending stars(thoughts) by way of birds her way.  The lower figure is ritualistically posed as he is magically influencing the central figure to drop her knife, or her psychic defenses.  The central figure in red represents the modality of self often related to the ego, a mediating highly influential portion of the makeup of psyche.  The central figure is representative of the id, as well as true self and is there from the inception of psychic birth.  The central figure is blindfolded, symbolizing the lack of direction and ability to view reality this part of the self is apportioned.  The central figure is then highly influenced by the ego in this arrangement, listening carefully to instruction.  The figure on the right represents the super ego, the conscience or set of rules that the regulated psyche follows.  This figure is coming to the rescue of the central figure, she carries a model scale of the axial alignments of the earth in relation to the sun and galaxy, a symbol for the correct alignment of self with ones surroundings.  The object has three small symbols on it, representing the galaxy with a swirls, and the sun and earth with two dots, yellow and blue respectively.  The super ego figure also carries a new tree, a gift for the central figure, giving her new space or old portions of learned morality in the brain with which to throw off the outside influence.  

 

The activity occurring when add up as whole is a representation of the hedonistic drive of the self, both occurring from inner dialogue and the influence of the outer world; the action of the super ego in an attempt to restrain the id and the co-opting of the ego into action on behalf of self indulgence.