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While not a comprehensive list, the following symbols are repeated frequently in my paintings. I interpret them as follows: |
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The Spiral: this is the mental image I had as I slept when I heard my mother's dying scream I saw in my dream a ribbon spiraling up off the floor of our dining room, then falling back to earth as the scream stopped. Anytime you see the spiral, the painting is about death, specifically my mothers. The Crescent Moon: symbolic of the conscious/subconscious nature of our existence, one side in the
light, the other unseen. Barnacles and Other Assorted Shellfish: symbolic of retreating into myself and putting up a protective wall to keep others out. The barnacle in particular is appropriate because it uses sharp
edges to hurt anyone who tries to get in. The Sun or the Blindspot: something too intense to look at (such as the grief of my mother's death). The sun is the only thing in our world that is too bright to look
at. You can't actually see it, just the way it colors everything else. There is a psychological term for this in our thought processes (not sure what it is...schemata?). Anyhow, I had a BIG one. Still have
lot's of little ones, but I think we all do. The Cross: has multiple meanings, but they all have to do with fear and/or facing fear. There is also probably an underlying martyr issue at work. The "Picasso Face": a phrase my son coined to describe the split faces in many of my paintings. The symbolism is somewhat like the crescent moon described above. It denotes the duality of personality, conscious appearance versus unconscious drives. Running or Dripping Paint: symbolic of the melting down of the mental shells that were protecting me from having to look at my core emotions. These shells for me are typically compulsive activities, such as work, which provided distraction from myself, or they are in the form of attitudes that distanced me from other people so that I didn't have to expose myself. It's kind of interesting to me that painting started out as one of those distracting activities, but became a way for me to express what was not consciously available to me. In the end, it may have served me well in both areas, knowing myself, and being known by others.
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