“In the Two we experience the very essence of number more intensely than in other numbers, that essence being to bind many together into one, to equate plurality and unity. Our mind divides the world into heaven and earth, day and night, light and darkness, right and left, man and woman, I and you—and the more strongly we sense the separation between these poles, whatever they may be, the more powerfully do we also sense their unity.”
–Karl Menninger (1893-1990, American psychiatrist)
“The opposite is beneficial; from things that differ comes the fairest attunement; all things are born through strife.”
–Heraclitus (c. 540-c. 480 BC, Greek philosopher)
It is my belief that we are each a marrying of two. In actuality, it is likely more complex than this, but I have the thought that we are all essentially dichotomies. We each possess opposite but equal parts. Some halves are hidden (but no less powerful), some halves push and pull against each other, some halves harmonize. Sometimes the two selves quarrel, and sometimes the two selves complement each other. And sometimes maybe those halves possess their own halves.
It’s easy to identify some dichotomies in ourselves: we all tend to recognize that we can have both male and female attributes, or attributes that we might associate with “good” or “bad”. But we also are far more subtle and complex than that, especially in a dream state where lines between consciousness and unconsciousness can blur and become indistinct.
In some facets of or lives, the twin-ness is acceptable, and integration is not necessary, but at other times, it’s important to reconcile and integrate the two. Sometimes, it’s only important to recognize the dichotomy. In the middle, after the integration, what we may find is a neutrality.
Topsy-Turvy
Cotton fabric, iron-on transfer paper-- 2013
The Cassowary Bird Topsy-turvy
The Human Animal Topsy-turvy
The Phoenix and the Dragon Topsy-turvy
The Seahorse Topsy-turvy
The Bat Topsy-turvy
The Snail Topsy-turvy
Alchemical Androgyne (detail)
Shadow Selves
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Selves (detail)
Shadow Mandala #2
ink jet prints on paper, insulation board, and thread
Shadow Mandala #3
ink jet prints on paper, insulation board, and thread
Shadow Mandala #1
ink jet prints on paper, insulation board, and thread
