When I mapped out this composition, the subject became immediately clear when the Minotaur appeared,
The hero’s path into the underworld to confront one’s true self was a tall order.
Through my journey, I got to know the characters and thought it would be instructive to share them with you.
The purpose of my art is to inspire you, the viewer, to exercise your imagination.
Hopefully if I express my inner truth, it will resonate with yours.
Labyrinth
acrylic on panel
24” x 30”
Limited Edition Lithograph
edition of 300
image size: 24” x 30”
paper size: 25” x 34”
Surrealists in the 1920's recognized the Labyrinth as a symbol for The Unconscious. Going to the netherworld is the quintessential Hero's Journey. The Labyrinth is a quest to defuse that nasty Minotaur we all have inside, so we can live in polite society.
It is for this reason that I painted Labyrinth, to illustrate the forces and concerns in our psychological landscape. We are all animals balancing the ideals of being perfect humans while pursuing our ungodly passions. We work, we play. We are young beginners, we are old and staid. We are individuals with different priorities than the group. We are a bucket of contradictions. At what point are we ready to leave Plato's Cave and dance with the shadows?
Labyrinth is a symmetrical composition with the Minotaur lower middle.
Center left is Family/Society. Center Right is the Individual/Self.
The half-Man/half-Bull Minotaur as our animal nature,
is contrasted with our human or divine nature above.
"And where we had thought to slay another
we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outwards
we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone
we shall be with all the world.”
-- Joseph Campbell
“Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one’s being, but by integration of the contraries.” - Carl Jung
The family unit is our introduction to society. We are part of a larger whole, and like air, we cannot live without other people.
The Father protects the baby as an egg giving structure, complete with a family dog. The Mother see through a white circle as her Pure-Light - Mother's know things. This core-group is stabilized by connection to a deep past, creating a peaceful continuity.
This might be an ideal family now, but circumstances change, the Cloak of Night is the uncertainty drama requires. The columns suggest consistency, but that is an illusion - all is in flux. The Cliff of Reality is in everyone's future.
The privilege of a lifetime
is to become
who you truly are."
-- Carl Jung
“No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself.
No man is free who cannot command himself.”
― Pythagoras
Notice the Minotaur’s Tale (Tail) is at the center of the Individual.
It is by incorporating the wild doings of the Minotaur that we are interesting.
The Minotaur is The Trickster, The Jester, the maker of jokes & breakthroughs.
'If I got rid of my demons, I'd lose my angels.'
—-Tennessee Williams
Symmetrically continues, balancing on a central column, animated with figures.
The compositional crosshairs focus the energy on the central figure of ‘Work’,
striving toward the heart's desire.
The central column is a hierarchy from base animal desires, to the divine ideals of the perfect person or Übermensch.
Loosely based on chakras, each level progresses along spiritual ideals.
"Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus.
Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners."
- William Shakespeare
The journey begins upper left, as we would read a book.
The beginner's mind breaks ground on his journey, shining a path of intention.
The Yellowbrick Road is our generation's name for the path to personhood.
Each figure possesses a spirit that Suggests, but does not Possess a name.
The Labyrinth is a spiritual world, not a material world.
This painting is meant to be explored for years and years.
My hope is for the subject to transcend my intention, for you to see your own path.
This is the center of action, the hero striving toward his heart, his passion.
The hero's face is looking forward and backward with terror and intensity.
Upper left is the relaxing hero, see below.
Notice that everything is made of rock, from dust to dust, we are all primordial stuff.
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' - Genesis 3:19
Our hero is resting on the side of his journey/path enjoying well earned time off.
... and what novel would be complete without a little sex ~!~
“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow?
I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole.” - Jung
Labyrinth is a mandala of sorts to revel in.
It is not a place of answers, but episodes in a non-linear journey.
Finding 'The Way' is a central concern in our human condition.
We see and remember in terms of words,
allowing abstract imagery to remain conceptually malleable.
The abstracted imagery is evocative of human forms in familiar postures suggesting a narrative
The purpose of my art is to inspire you to exercise your imagination.
Hopefully if I express my inner truth, it will resonate with yours.
Use my interpretations as a how-to guide, not as definitions.
Interpretation is a poetic art,
listening to 'that still small voice.'
I hope I didn't explain away the mystery…