Dreamer's Suite
Janice Geller
In my artwork I seek to bring unconscious and collective unconscious knowledge into consciousness. When I paint I work intuitively, opening to my personal unconscious, and global collective unconscious through a deep listening. The paintings unfold, each piece strange, unique, slowly forming, with a playful logic that unifies, and is yet authentic. Themes that emerge are often about relationship, identity, diversity, nature, reactivity, new perspectives, struggle and resolution. Some paintings are fairly literal, others more abstract – dependent on the inner world I enter. The images range from whimsical and playful, calm or meditative, to full of struggle. Each piece circles the veils between reality and the imaginary. Questions arise which the paintings assist in bringing insight. What is this dream asking of me? How can I process this memory? How do I hold other’s stories and fears? Can I paint a glimpse of what is possible? Can I paint what I truly believe people radiate under all the distress? My intention as an artist is to invite the viewer to be curious, to move into a space of their own imagination, speculating about their impressions and what the artwork inspires in them.
Some of the work arises as I concentrate on bringing a quality of attention on some impressive but unintelligible dream image, such as the innocence before a woman opens a door to a room full of imaginary animal spirits. Some of the work emerges during a C.G. Jung inspired Authentic Movement sessions, no longer in image or dream but now in my body, allowing the movement to happen as my psyche and body draw or paint between movement experiences. Inner parts speak, move, and ask to be seen in visual form. The work can be fantastical, verging on the surreal, where creatures interact with sorcerers and angels in imaginary environments. Some of the work arises during Active Imagination as inner figures ask to come into consciousness and be known. A recurrent visitor is the dragon as protector, as creative muse, as flying witness. Some of the mixed-media artwork emerges from the materials, watching the watercolors flow into each other, opening access to the imagination. Some of the work develops during a Body-Mind Centering exploration of my inner body systems. For example, feeling into my lymphatic system where I plant a garden of white blood cells to strengthen the immune system or visualizing full-body, fluid-filled internal organs, as a bird woman appears with human internal organs. I might enter into the spaciousness of cellular consciousness, where the cells are surrounded by space and a thin fascial web. Some of the work is created after mediation practice where a calm, peaceful presence is embodied, and then takes visual form. Some of the work arises after exploring theater or movement improvisation, where figures spin and float, circling the void.
Once down on paper I can now see the unconscious made conscious and reflect upon it. I do not always know the meaning, and each new viewing allows further interpretation. A single piece can have a weaving of references: personal and collective memory, dreams, rituals, body impressions, landscapes, present moment and future. As I work on a piece I usually begin to have a name or a story about the work. This bringing of the unconscious into consciousness keeps me engaged in the piece. Quite often references overlap leading to multiple associations. This multiple meaning making, flows through the creative process, and applies when the work hangs on the wall.