Portals to Psyche: Jungian Trends in the Northwest

Conference Artist Works and Biographies

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Shea Bajaj, BArch, University of Oregon

“Psyche Study #2”     Pigmented Resin & Wood
“Psyche Fusion”        Pigmented Resin & Wood

From a series entitled Structures of Consciousness

Having been born into a multicultural family and raised in the Pacific Northwest has shaped my psyche. Being of part American and part East Indian descent has allowed me a unique opportunity to be a voyeur into these seemingly opposite cultures. Early on, this created in me many questions as to the nature of culture and thought. Pursuing psychological works by Jung and Hillman has helped me to explore these questions and help shape my own personal philosophy, architecture and art.

My current body of artwork attempts to visually diagram the psyche and break it down to its elemental structures. Since the psyche is a very complex landscape, I have chosen to use a wide range of artistic formats for each of the arenas of my exploration. I am currently working on a series of wall sculptures entitled Structures of Consciousness. I chose to use resin and wood as my two primary mediums for these pieces since they represent the extreme dualities of how structures are represented in nature; one is fluid and encompassing while the other is defined and rigid. In addition, I find these mediums work so well in symbolizing the structured ‘hard’ consciousness juxtaposed to the fluid and ‘soft’ unconscious.

Robert Carlson

      “Jerusalem 2001”       Blown, plate glass, enamel paint, gold leaf
     “Cupid and Psyche”   Blown glass, enamel paint, gold & copper leaf

The relevance of symbol and myth in contemporary life has entered into the popular imagination through the writings of the late Joseph Campbell, whom Carlson acknowledges as a major influence. But, from another angle, Ernst Cassirer’s treatise The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (1923-29) is pertinent in light of Carlson’s rather intuitive approach to glass. According to this German philosopher, the mind creates symbols to interpret experience, and these symbols are the forms of consciousness in the act of expressing itself. Symbolism thus constantly renews itself through the work of art, which is the act of self expression. Robert Carlson evokes a multitude of established mythical and spiritual references through his use of symbols, but he remakes them out of his own experience. That is the essence of his search for self-discovery and creativity in art.
         -- Ron Glowen, American Craft Magazine, Oct/Nov 1994:53-54

Also see http://www.users.qwest.net/~bobway/index.html

Margaret Carpenter, BSN, ATR

     “The Many Faces of God”                             Watercolor         
     “Transformation in the Passage of Times”     Watercolor
      “Spirit of Place”                                            Watercolor

Margaret Carpenter is an art therapist who decided to combine her background as a graduate nurse and professional artist. This led her to a study with a Jungian analyst and she has worked in the field of art therapy since 1982. In recent years, she has focused on the integration of spirituality and psychology through art.  She and her husband moved to La Conner, where she hopes to find more time to paint.

• “The Many Faces of God” was created in response to the mother of a client who wanted her child to paint a picture of God!
• “Transformation in the Passage of Time” was created indirectly by painting abstract washes and then waiting for the image to emerge.
• “Spirit of Place” was approached as a more traditional landscape, but allowing a spirit form to emerge.

Gretchen Dunn, BA Spanish/History, University of Texas. Graduate work in Curriculum Development, University of Washington and University of Texas

     “Red Frog”             Acrylic on Canvas        
     “Robin with Egg”   Acrylic on Canvas

I have always felt at ease with Nature. I have been a mother, wife and a special education teacher in Texas, Oregon, and Washington. My painting began with intensity and devotion in 1993. The whole process and the results lead, teach, and heal me. I continue to WONDER about how the paintings relate to my life experiences and how they express the things I am most drawn to understand. Throughout my life, my energy has been dramatically augmented by expressive avenues of art, authentic movement, and writing. I have a long time interest in psychology and in spirit/body/mind/energy. I continue to paint and also teach painting in the Spiral Studio in my home. My "at easeness" with Nature expands to include more and more of the NATURE inside myself and underlying and connecting all humans.

Cordy Fergus, Jungian Analyst, MFA 

       Wildlife Photos of the Earth Imagining Creatures
       Film:  “US, Meditations on Nature, Psyche and Culture” (work in progress)

Debra Thompson Harvey, BArch, University of Washington 

      “Portals to Psyche: The Path”    Enlarged Print/Entry to Plestcheef Auditorium 
       Four Paintings With Poems

This work illuminates my search to visualize what is felt intuitively. I ask more questions: How does the search for the Self stimulate the senses, speak to the heart? Can colors and words crack us into consciousness? How shall I illuminate the call, the struggle, the birth of consciousness?

Dennis Joram, BFA, University of Washington 

       Four Sculptures

The primary focus of my art has been working in stone. Inspiration for the sculptures usually came from my connection life; the materials provided a powerful influence to their overall design and form. Frequently, I design my pieces in clay first because of its fluid nature and sensuality. Currently, I am exploring clay as a final form, rather than limiting it to an intermediate step.

Judith Skenazy, PhD, Psychology 

       “SpiderSnake”    Welded and forged iron, painted and gilded
        “Pomegranates” Clay, coil built, glazed and fired to cone

The pieces in this exhibition come out of personal dreams. The inner necessity for manifesting the images provided an opportunity to work with them in a different way; both the images and my relationship to them transformed. Simultaneously, the process of creating them required expansion of my artistic skills (i.e., visual vocabulary, mediums, and techniques) and exploration of subjects that I would otherwise probably not have entertained.

Judith is a psychotherapist in private practice, a ceramist, and an occasional welder. She lives and works in Seattle.

Kenji-Bernard Okumo Tachibana, BFA 

       Electronic Digital Imagery

         “Inrush to Action”                 
         “Abduction of the Maiden”   
         “From Day into Night”                                 
         “Password at the Postern Gate”

He currently teaches photography and design classes at The Art Institute of Seattle and the North Seattle Community College. He is very much into digital photography, saying that “I finally have the control to ‘make’ the images that I see through my mind’s eye.”

Kat Taylor, BA, Vanderbilt University (1970), Poetry. MA, MDiv, Pacific School of Religion (1974), Theology. MEd, University of Arizona, Counseling.  

        “This Close”       
        “Untitled”   
        “Untitled”             
        “The Gardener Who Was Also a Wizard”
        “The Nest”

Kat Taylor is a ceramic sculptor who lives and works on Orcas Island.