Beauty is In The Eye

Painting by David Price

If it has been believed hitherto that the human shadow was the source of all evil, it can now be ascertained on closer investigation that the unconscious man, that is, his shadow, does not consist only of morally reprehensible tendencies, but also displays a number of good qualities, such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights, creative impulses, etc. ~Carl Jung, CW 9ii, Par 423.

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have come to our real journey. — Wendell Berry

Beauty is not mere prettiness. It’s trueness, realness. Its force comes from a natural earthiness, even grittiness. Beauty has power. Surface prettiness is attenuated, weak.

When I began my art studies, I copied surfaces, and I was good at it, especially in sculpting faces and bodies. But I always felt something lacking in the result. I didn’t know how to find that source of power in myself because I didn’t have permission to feel it. Studying in Florence, I was introduced to kinetic methods that threw open the door to “shadow” energies that poured darker forces into my work in volcanic eruptions I hadn’t suspected existed in me.