Instinction vs. Intuition
Okay so I've been thinking a lot about what I am really trying to say with my work. I keep circling around the ideas of survival and all the basic needs a human must have in order to live a happy life. In my most recent version of my artist statement, ( I'll copy it below in case anyone has interest to read it) I've been combining certain terms that deal with our different levels of consciousness in hopes to in some way combine them seamlessly to avoid confusion in what I want the take away from my art to be.
"Wandering in the forest forces us to become aware of our surroundings in order to survive, similarly to how holding something with unexpected textures also compels us to live in the present. My art is expressed through sculptural utilitarian ceramics. The goal of my work is to inspire the viewer to live in the present moment and to spark a love for nature to heighten our personal wellbeing. I love being out in nature, it brings out my intuitive feelings of something being familiar yet unreachable along with instilling fearlessness like I am able to conquer my nightmares.
The surface designs are made to combine natural textures and the migration of birds. Animal migrations, including us, move from place to place to survive by understanding an instinct. Instincts are realized when you are aware of your surroundings and of yourself. Traveling through the natural environment forces our human intuition and instincts to resurface making us happier and healthier and all the confidence to realize that we are enough."
I have been researching human instincts and their intuition. Instincts are hardwired into our bodies as it is our response to certain stimuli and is a natural way of acting or thinking because we have done it our whole lives. It also deals with our unconscious mind. It taps into our mind processes that we are often unaware of; like repressed feelings or thoughts we hide away. It's almost like we do not have control over them as they are something that is not in our present moment so we might not understand them but they are instilled within us regardless. An example would be if someone is attacking us emotionally or physically because we will always fight back in order to survive. Now intuition is the ability to understand something immediately without the need for contemplation. We have learned it throughout our life experiences. It can either be from our preconscious or subconscious. Preconscious is information that we possess but we are not using at a particular time. They are the files waiting to be pulled out of the drawer. Subconscious mind is a little bit more complicated, these hide typically below the surface of our conscious present selves. It influences our behaviors and we may not even notice. Often they refer to the feelings and thoughts that swirl in our mind constantly and since they are so present all the time we might not even realize they are there influencing our body language or the way we discuss topics with others. Here are two examples, the first would be the uneasy feeling a person might get walking down a dark alley and they end up turning around because they sense the feeling of a potential threat. A person must react quickly in that situation to realize if there is an actual fear or if it is the minds fear. When I say minds fear I mean a fear that we impose on ourselves because when we are being forced outside of our comfort zone. The second example would be two people in a relationship and one of them is constantly belittling the other and when confronted that person might say they have no idea what the other is talking about. This could be the result of the abusers feeling of insecurity in their subconscious that it ends up effects their present situations.
I really do not have a conclusion for this one. I just find it interesting that some of these facts have to deal with us holding onto things in our lives that have left a mark no matter whether it was positive or negative. What we do as individuals all comes down to our survival mode which is made up of both instinctual and intuitive behaviors. Its intriguing to think about how nature can influence us in positive ways but we must open ourselves to it in order to be healed by it. In my attempt to dissect my artist statement and I found this whole other level of psychology that I did not know had anything to do with my artwork. It ends up that society's problem of being stuck in our heads unable to enjoy the present has a much more deeply routed problem that deals with our life experiences. It will take a lot more that just one walk in the woods but a whole life of wandering in the forest to conquer the monsters that hide within us. Let's do it, I'm ready! Now to the creating board to start realizing how I can put all of this into my work. Keep pushing my friends! Wander.