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This body of creative research uses standard artistic research methods. It uses the psychology of Carl Jung’s dreamlands and active imagination as its main creative theme. Dreams and active imagination were important methods used by Jung for the purpose of psychotherapy in order to help the patient sort out unconscious complexes and to journey towards individuation. The mental images produced from dreams and active imagination are like an inner mirror, this mirror reflects a person’s emotions and the unconscious intents behind a person’s surface level behaviour. Expressive art has a special quality of being able to accept, it allows the individual to intuitively create bold depictions of dreamlands and active imagination. This body of creative research uses the self-possession that art has to enlighten truth through beauty, and according to the characteristics of the mental images produced by dreams and active imagination, to choose appropriate forms of expression and mediums to execute the creations.
According to the creative researcher, artwork whose main creative themes are dreamlands and active imagination are no longer only in pursuit of art and a sense of beauty, but it is also through the creative process that one is once again fixing one’s eyes upon dreams and active imagination and having a dialogue with them. The artwork is composed and takes form in the space between rationality and perception. In the overall context through the ages, surrealist art and Jungian psychotherapy have spanned across the realms of art and psychology. They share common ground in that they both involve the exploration of the unconscious to seek truth in the soul.
Dreams and active imagination have symbolism and connotations for the individual, there exists understanding that occurs in stages and progress will be made with time and life experience. With different perspectives arrive different stages of clarity. Final conclusions: (1) The use of dreams and active imagination as the main creative theme, and using this to keep an eye on one’s mental processes and perception of ego. (2) The use of dreamlands as a way to compensate. (3) The relationship between the use of mediums in the creative process and their effect on mental state.
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