Soulshapes : Portfolios

"The girl and the woman, in their new, their own unfolding, will but in passing be imitators of masculine ways, good and bad, and repeaters of masculine professions. After the uncertainty of such transition it will become apparent that women were only going through the profusion and the vicissitude of those (often ridiculous) disguises in order to cleanse their most characteristic nature of the distorting influences of the other sex...

This humanity of woman, borne its full time in suffering and humiliation, will come to light when she will have stripped off the conventions of mere femininity in the mutations of her outward status...

Some day there will be girls and women whose name will no longer signify merely an opposite of the masculine, but something in itself, something that makes one think, not of any complement and limit, but only of life and existence: the feminine human being."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Figurative Holgas Part I | Figurative Holgas Part II

"Impasse must be endured, our ego is powerless to bring about a solution. Psychological conflicts cannot be resolved by mere will, by consciously taking sides and deliberately trying to enforce new schemes. On the other hand that which we can consciously understand and which has real meaning for us can now be endured. Only suffering without meaning is unendurable. Whenever we attempt to take sides or to play one side against the other, we invariably increase the opposing force and thereby defeat our every effort. A psychological conflict can be dealt with only by holding on, with an extreme awareness of the meanings and implications, to both sides: by suffering the crucifixion, as it were, in the pain of the conflicting opposites without identifying with either one. This means that we must avoid trying to act out or change either side indiscriminately or inappropriately. We need not feel compelled to resolve the impasse or to do away with it.

The path out of the dilemma can only be found by waiting and consciously holding on to both sides of the conflict, by making the utmost effort to keep both sides in fullest possible awareness without repressing them or falling into a state of identification. This means nothing less than that the conflict with all its excrutiating implications must be endured consciously; we cannot seek to terminate it forcibly by taking sides, by enforcing a premature decision. Symbolically this amounts to a crucifixion; by our consent, our acceptance of this suffering we are nailed to the cross of opposing drives."

- From "The Symbolic Quest" by Edward C. Whitmont

Figurative Holgas Part III: Crucifixion

These triptych Holga images have not been manipulated in Photoshop. They are a serendipitous manifestation of "a mistake."

Figurative Holga Triptychs

The more painterly moody quality reminiscent of ancient frescos inherent in image transfers seems to resonate most with the inner world I inhabit through my personal process.

Perhaps one of the most important and difficult lessons in creating Polaroid image transfers has been accepting that each image will be different and "imperfect," yet in that imperfection lies beauty and meaning.

Figurative Polaroid Transfers Part I | Figurative Polaroid Transfers Part II | Figurative Polaroid Transfers Part III

Figurative Polaroid Transfer Composites | Figurative Polaroid Film

The horse entered western culture much the same as so many other phenomena--through mythology. Spirit horses are sometimes seen floating in the air. They are alive and reside within us for they exist in our mythological psyche. May these beautiful soulful creatures affirm that mythic creatures haunt our modern inner spirit.

A Mythological Space

The force of my engagement with an ever changing beautiful and mysterious eco-system allows me to experience a mystical space.

Earth and Waterscape Holgas Part I | Earth and Waterscape Holgas Part II

"Ethereal, alien, graceful and downright hypnotic, the jellyfish remain enchanting to see."

- Jack Fischer

Living Art