“Nefarious Winds”
Watercolor, Ink
16x20”
2023
This is the original watercolor and ink painting on Arche's hot press paper. The piece is sealed in artist's wax to protect it from UV rays and moisture. Ships in framed, but has the option to include the black frame in the photo.
Aristotle is credited with the conventional insight that “knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. Self-reflection is crucial to understanding our strengths, weaknesses, and emotions so that we may be able to live up to our potential. Carl Jung states that “everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” The shadow, in my opinion, is best explored through an individual’s creative practice. In my case, artwork, music, and short stories are areas in which my shadow can be examined and utilized in a manner that is not self-destructive. My shadow is, thankfully, quite a productive aspect of myself. Often, I find no “meaning” in my artwork while in production. It is often just an assemblage of various symbols, gestures, and moods slapped together to create a “feeling” that I don’t fully understand. This piece, for example, was merely a theme of “chaotic rage”, with no real story behind it. After some time revisiting its creation, I found that I was able to form some sort of coherent explanation…
“Nefarious Winds” (the name of this painting) illustrates the act of exploring the shadow. If you haven’t noticed… yes, that’s my face in the artwork. Here I am, naked and vulnerable, but commanding this legion of ravenous birds, as they are my shadow. This shadow is chaotic and destructive to others, but also protective. The halo of eyes suggests that by unlocking and harnessing this darkness, I have achieved a substantial piece of personal enlightenment. I painted this in 2023 and I’m only realizing this now… so for me, art is an effective, but slow mechanism for shadow work.
