FARBEBEKENNEN

PORTFOLIO FACE THE SHADOW

In context of two solo exhibitions in 2023, paintings emerged under the theme LICHTUNGEN (glades). The metaphor of LICHTUNGEN conveys an image with strong symbolic power: when something is cleared away, space for the new is created. The process brings light into places that may have previously been dark. Metaphorically speaking, one often has to uproot trees to bring light into certain areas and allow for insight. It is an attempt to orient myself in the turbulent events of the world; particularly the topic of war and/or peace. This engagement encompasses not only external aspects but also the so-called shadow work.

In the painting DIE MISSGLÜCKTE ENTFÜHR-UNG DER EUROPA (2023, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 130 x 180 cm) again there is a reference to Greek mythology. Instead of an abducted Europa, daughter of Phoinix, symbol of a chain of mutually inflicted acts of war between the Hellenes and the Barbarians, there is an empty space on the back of the mythical bull. A fiery landscape of ruins moves to the center, which can be understood as a metaphor for the destruction of nature and the cultivated approach to matriarchal principles that can create the necessary balance in the individual against an objectified view of activity and self-perception focused on utility, function, and consumption. As Blackstock mentioned, shadow work is “not a matter of attaining a static state of perfection, but of engaging in a dynamic, ongoing process of differentiation and integration”. In C. G. Jung own words: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will determine your life, and you will call it fate.”

ALICE encounters absurd figures and paradoxical riddles of a world behind the mirror on her path toward individuation. Like Alice, we also switch between rationalization and dreaming. A piece of one world always remains preserved in the other, creating a third, overlapping state that allows for new insights. In ALICE AND THE SLEEPY MARCH HARE, my aim is to highlight the balancing weight of imagination (imagery). Our world generates billions of images daily. These images circulate in the media and are mostly consumed superficially. This scenario is symbolically represented by a sleeping March hare and an Alice turning away her face. Whether we like it or not, we only ever meet ourselves. When the mad March hare sleeps, Alice too can’t awake despite all the logic she applies.

In context of DIE BEGEGNUNG IM PARK (Encounter in the Park, 2022, Oil on canvas, 120 x 220 cm), I would like to quote Joel Blackstock again. He impressively summarizes Jung’s model of opposites in his article Carl Jung’s Shadow – Holding the Tension of Opposites in Depth Psychology. For C. G. Jung Individuation, the realization of self is made manifest in the opposites. For this concept Jung established “Personality No. 1″ and Personality No. 2”, introduced in his autobiographical work Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

“Personality No. 1 represented his outward, socially adapted self—the rational, academically engaged individual who functioned in the world of education, professional life, and social expectations. However, this aspect often felt shallow or incomplete to Jung. In contrast, Personality No. 2 was a deep, intuitive, and mystical aspect of Jung’s psyche. Connected to nature, timelessness, and a transpersonal dimension of existence, this part of Jung’s inner life had a profound sense of the sacred and an experience of the world as full of symbols and archetypal meaning. Unlike the structured world of Personality No. 1, Personality No. 2 was at home in solitude, dreams, and the unconscious. Over time, Jung moved from seeing this duality as his own private experience to understanding it as a universal psychological phenomenon. The tension between Personality No. 1 and Personality No. 2 mirrors the dynamic between the ego (the conscious, socially adapted self) and the Self (the deeper, transpersonal center of the psyche) in Jung’s later theories. As Tacey highlights, Jung believed that modern individuals suffer when they over-identify with Personality No. 1, cutting themselves off from the deeper wisdom of Personality No. 2. This is a core crisis of contemporary life: people live in a rational, empirical world but feel disconnected from deeper meaning.” by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Feb 19, 2025

It is the desire to encounter oneself and others even in the absolute opposite that is also expressed in the painting KRIEG UND FRIEDEN (War and Peace) 2022, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 180 cm).

“The monumental double portrait “KRIEG UND FRIEDEN” (War and Peace) references the title of the eponymous novel by Leo Tolstoy. It features colors and techniques reminiscent of Marc Chagall’s work”, as Art historian Angelika Doppelbauer describes. “The two figures depicted, likely soldiers given their tricorn hats, are significantly battered. Torn clothing, partially disfigured, injured faces, and an oppressive, sometimes aggressively colored palette convey a strong emotional impact. The paint streaking in many areas can be interpreted as tears, blood, or a situation in disarray. The composition separates the figures with a bright area, that appears as descending dove of peace. It is only crossed at the bottom of the image by the outstretched arms of the two adversaries. The work’s richness in detail and its representational execution are highly narrative. The seemingly reaching hands of the two lend the image a reconciliatory character.”