6.9.11

Jungian Shadow Contest

DoA released the results, so I can post my pictures here.

I based my submission (the second picture down) on Henry Fuseli's series of paintings The Nightmare.

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* * *

I'm not sure if it's clear, but there are some symbolic things going on in these pictures.

In the first image, the Dreamer is in a hazy half-conscious state where realities and unrealities are colliding and super-imposing themselves upon each other. As the dream deepens, the repressed character of the Shadow appears as a veiled and ominous figure.

The Dreamer is blindfolded because of her lack of agency, and the colour red reverberates from her blindfold to the hangings in the background. Due to the Dreamer's attempts to avoid looking her disowned Shadow in the face, this confrontation is full of horror.

The colour in the third picture is more lurid, to indicate that this is the most terrifying of surrenders: the changed, repressed shadow touches the Dreamer with both hands. The red feathers near the Dreamer's head indicate the disarray of her defenses and suggest that there may be something seductive about the touch of the Shadow.

In the third and fourth images, the colours are softer and the red recedes. The Dreamer has removed her blindfold and dares to look upon the face of the Shadow. When the Dreamer has seen the Shadow, he at last receives her acceptance, and the two can begin to learn from each other.

3.9.11

In Limbo

I'm starting a new term in a few days, and the dread of that has more or less paralyzed me.

Den of Angels is also hosting a contest, and I am nearly at my wits' end with curiosity. After the results are posted, I may or may not have images to share.

There is also a photostory in the works, and assuming that I can escape the paralysis of school-induced dread and doll-induced suspense, I will finish it quite soon.

Until I have something substantial to post, here is Mr. Black looking out of a window at an airport in San Francisco. He is in a bag because I disguised him as a carry-on.