In my picture of the world there is a vast outer realm and an equally vast inner realm; between these two stands man, facing now one and now the other, and, according to temperament and disposition, taking the one for the absolute truth by denying or sacrificing the other.
~Carl Jung
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I came across this passage from the writings of ground-breaking psychoanalyst Carl Jung recently and it very much summed up what I have been saying for several years about the manner in which I view my work. I often call them internal landscapes, which I see as my inner response or alternative to the outer world. Perhaps, as Jung says, I am accepting my internal view for absolute truth–as I see it– by sacrificing the reality of the outer realm.
I don’t know. To me, both worlds exist fully and have equal validity and I split my existence moving between the two. Actually, my time spent in that internal land make my time in the outer realm more tolerable. It’s when I struggle to find my way into that inner world that the outer world becomes more difficult to bear
This idea of inward and outward perspective made me think of a series called In the Window that I had painted a decade ago of views of my landscapes as seen through windows. The piece at the top, In the Window: Dream Away, was the first from this series. It’s an inversion of Jung’s analogy with my internal Red Tree landscape existing here in the outer realm and the external reality occupying the inner space, the window serving as a real and symbolic portal between the two worlds, one through which I can move back and forth easily.
I had never really thought of this series in those terms. Initially, this series was meant as a way to present my landscapes in a different manner. Like a fine piece of jewelry, the landscapes would act as a precious stone and the window and internal space would act as a setting for that stone. But it really comes down to a perspective on reality and I think at that point I was just beginning to see that these landscape were as much internal as they seemed external while looking out that window.
Hmm, something to think about on a thankfully rainy day…
Redtree Times 