In this series there is a shift from the heady concerns of Existentialism to more introspective discoveries. The conservative rectangle is blown out to allow for a sculptural aesthetic. The work expresses a journey through the subconscious—exploring recent and ancient memory, dreams and imagination. Staircases and ladders initiate entrance into various rooms and chambers filled with visual metaphors that arouse abstract notions of complementary opposites: male/female, earthly/spiritual, unity/isolation etc.

Principles of alchemy are borrowed which express the metamorphous of organic substance into metal—a symbolic gesture of transforming the fragile into a material of permanence and a process that aspires to a higher state of consciousness.

Carl Jung’s books, Man and His Symbols, and Memories, Dreams, Reflections played a role in the understanding of such things as archetypes, ancient and recent memory, plus universal symbols that have been used throughout history in various cultures, religion, mythology, architecture and art. The study of symbols as they relate to the world will be a continuing theme during the next several series.

The motivation for this work is the hope that if one has the courage to explore the collective unconscious—art will be created and understood in the spirit of humankind. —©Michele Ogilvie, 2009—All Rights Reserved.

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