Papers by Lisa A Pounders
After he began his confrontation with the unconscious, but before he started work in the red leat... more After he began his confrontation with the unconscious, but before he started work in the red leather-bound volume regarded as The Red Book: Liber Novus, C. G. Jung argued with an inner female voice. In the argument he declared that what he was doing was not art but nature. To probe Jung’s perceived gap between art and nature, this study forms a conjunction between The Red Book and Charlotte Salomon’s multimedia artwork, Life? or Theater?. Employing Jungian, arts-based, and feminism perspectives through hermeneutical and transdisciplinary methods, it invites new perceptions to emerge by closely engaging with the images, voices, and insights evoked by these distinctive yet related artistic endeavors. Findings demonstrate how creative work in the form of psychological investigation or as art can facilitate a reciprocal relationship with the unconscious as a means of psychological development and knowledge transmission. The study also reveals a relevant historical connection between Jun...
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International Journal of Jungian Studies, 2016
ABSTRACTThis paper explores Jung's concepts regarding art, the significant role of creativity... more ABSTRACTThis paper explores Jung's concepts regarding art, the significant role of creativity in his notion of individuation, and art's relationship to transformation. As an illustration, it introduces Charlotte Salomon – a German Jewish artist who was murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1943 – and her unique surviving opus, Life? or Theater? – a fictionalized autobiographical play-like work of art combining painted images, written words, and music. Applying Jung's theories as a lens, it broadly analyzes Salomon's work and considers it in light of Jung's distinction between psychological and visionary creative modes. In the process I reveal a potential material connection between Salomon and Jung, and argue that Life? or Theater? is not only artistically but also historically relevant to Jungian theory. By exploring Life? or Theater? in this way, my paper proposes that Jungian theory is a potent critical lens which can reveal a work of art's transfor...
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ProQuest Dissertation, 2020
After he began his confrontation with the unconscious, but before he started work in the red leat... more After he began his confrontation with the unconscious, but before he started work in the red leather-bound volume regarded as The Red Book: Liber Novus, C. G. Jung argued with an inner female voice. In the argument he declared that what he was doing was not art but nature. To probe Jung’s perceived gap between art and nature, this study forms a conjunction between The Red Book and Charlotte Salomon’s multimedia artwork, Life? or Theater?. Employing Jungian, arts-based, and feminist perspectives through hermeneutical and transdisciplinary methods, it invites new perceptions to emerge by closely engaging with the images, voices, and insights evoked by these distinctive yet related artistic endeavors. Findings demonstrate how creative work in the form of psychological investigation or as art can facilitate a reciprocal relationship with the unconscious as a means of psychological development and knowledge transmission. The study also reveals a relevant historical connection between Jung and Salomon’s artwork.
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Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies, 2019
Employing C. G. Jung’s theories of the transformative nature of the unconscious in collaboration ... more Employing C. G. Jung’s theories of the transformative nature of the unconscious in collaboration with his understanding of alchemy, this paper analyzes a number of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings featuring bones that were created during a 15-year period following her introduction to northern New Mexico. The analysis circulates among events from O’Keeffe’s life, the works of art themselves, and potential associations to alchemical concepts. The intention is to illuminate and deepen not only an appreciation of the artist’s visionary work but also an understanding of what alchemy has in common with Jung’s theories regarding psychological transformation. More broadly, the paper suggests that an ongoing engagement with art-making is a practice that can also function as an alchemical transmitter “of unconscious contents that are seeking expression” (Jung, 1938/1967, p. 82). Put another way, an attentiveness to creating works of art has the potential to enable the emergence of symbolic manifestations from the unconscious that evoke and facilitate psychological development.
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This paper explores Jung’s concepts regarding art, the significant role of creativity in his noti... more This paper explores Jung’s concepts regarding art, the significant role of creativity in his notion of individuation, and art’s relationship to transformation. As an illustration, it introduces Charlotte Salomon – a German Jewish artist who was murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1943 – and her unique surviving opus, Life? or Theater? – a fictionalized autobiographical play-like work of art combining painted images, written words, and music. Applying Jung’s theories as a lens, it broadly analyzes Salomon’s work and considers it in light of Jung’s distinction between psychological and visionary creative modes. In the process I reveal a potential material connection between Salomon and Jung, and argue that Life? or Theater? is not only artistically but also historically relevant to Jungian theory. By exploring Life? or Theater? in this way, my paper proposes that Jungian theory is a potent critical lens which can reveal a work of art’s transformative nature and cultural significance.
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Papers by Lisa A Pounders