In their article, ‘From Implicit Intention to Exquisite Expression: Finding Metaphors for Who We Are and What We Do,’ the authors talk about how “metaphors allow us to connect the inner and outer, to make the implicit explicit, so that we can better understand, more deeply experience, and more eloquently express who we are and what we do.” Poetry, storytelling and music are some of the ways that the authors have used to construct their metaphorical identities that encompass different aspects of their self, and use these as mediums to express their truth and journey.
As part of this exercise, you may want to create your own mandorla, “the ancient archetypal symbol created by drawing two overlapping circles that represent opposite or different perspectives” (Marinelli, J., Geisler, pg. 708) based off of a pair of opposites that feels significant to your life experience.
Through the creation of your mandorla you may find healing taking place, the binding of “that which was torn apart and made unwhole—unholy,” or that you have created in the union of opposites a highly energized space wherein something new is born.
Write about your experience, share your mandorla, or express your inward journey in whatever way you feel most called to. Be creative! There are no wrong answers!
We are asking you to go into your own highly personal world of symbols, images, and archetypes and bring some piece of it into our shared consciousness.
Hi All,
This class has been really exciting for me because it envelops a lot of what I deal with and encounter with my personal practice as an artist and educator. I have worked with diagrams and maps similar to a mandorla and how mandorla's can transform the classroom.
Particularly interested in the discourse surrounding ways in which (art) educators address identity within the context of a classroom setting, I create and explore these concepts through venn diagrams, digital mandalas, and creative coding as a visual based research method to investigate themes of discourse and identity development through artmaking. How do educators find interesting, harmless ways to integrate and successfully explore topics of identity through the artistic process. How do we construct identity in multicultural art education? What theories support the development, construction, and awareness of the self on cultural, gendered, socio-economic themes and platforms? How do (art) educators find ways to address "other-ing" within the classroom?
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Lawrence highlights two ways to tap into unconscious wisdom—dreamwork and experiential painting. Exploring imagery through dreams and experiential painting can have the power to be transformative for the individual, and working with a group can be a powerful learning experience to find out the deeper meaning to our dreams (312).
During a difficult time or time of transition, have you experienced abstract metaphors in your dreams and struggled to find their true meaning. What dreams are you experiencing and are having trouble understanding? Share as little or as much as you are comfortable with (or remember from the dream). In your dream how were you certain of what your unconscious was trying to tell you?
If you haven’t experienced something like this, then what are your thoughts about dreamwork/experiential painting as an essential component in navigating some of life’s biggest challenges? What do you think of this? Is expressing deeply held emotions only in the dream state enough to lead to transformation and healing? Or must we bridge the unconscious and conscious to affect change?
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