Hillman says that ‘the basic disease from which our culture may be dying is man's disparagement, if not vilification, of images….accompanied by his faith in a….rationalistically ordered….civilization’. (Hillman, 1980: 186) Mc Farlane states that ‘the modern worldview of Western culture is characterized by an implicit division between the objective or physical realm of existence and the subjective or psychic realm of existence’ with the former ‘generally dominating….to the point of virtual exclusion’. This is based on a ‘materialistic worldview’ which ‘considers mind to be a mere epiphenomenon of matter’. (Mc Farlane, 2000) A similar rationalistic framework applies to traditional psychology and psychiatry and this has also influenced the way we view the psyche. Established scientific assumptions about the psyche and consciousness have implications for my study.The prevailing model for the psyche is confined to the body and limits consciousness to the brain. (Grof, interview, 4) This is based on a similar ‘authoritarian claim’ that the ‘material universe which we experience through our five senses, is the only existing reality’. (Grof, interview, 6) An alternative contemporary model which has ‘emerged from modern consciousness research’ is much broader and suggests that the development of the human psyche extends far beyond a socially-based need for functionality. (Grof, interview with Di Carlo 2, 3)
Resting on the image and in the mind causes me some problems as a researcher. The artworks I produce are personal, abstract and will undergo their own subjective evaluation through the psyches of others. It is reasonable to wonder how I can trust the image when it is only a visual manifestation of my own imagination. I reject the view that it is just an image. Equally, how do I know that this particular image has value? Part of my methodology involves finding confirmation in dreams. Depth psychology has long accepted the idea that, 'as symbolic forms of the unconscious, archetypes can be seen in the imagery of dreams.' (Aizenstat,1995, 95) I also check the results of my research against the responses of others. If I am truly tapping into a collective reality then my work often evokes predictable reactions from others.
image: Plato's Cave, mixed media on paper, Frantom
