See more images from Susan Krieg's "Archetypes of the Feminine" series.
My “Archetypes
of the Feminine” Series
By Susan Krieg
Art and psychology are intertwined for me. In art, I’ve always been fascinated by anatomy and human physical expression. In psychology, I’ve always tried to understand who I am and what my relationship to others is. When I began painting the female figure, I realized that I was painting the subject closest to me – a human female in a particular period of time.
Many artists believe that the experience of painting is very similar to meditation. In my experience, during the painting process, I have felt that I access a wealth of information and feeling that I don’t normally have. Perhaps the trance-like meditative state induced by painting allows one to tap into what Jungian psychology calls the “collective unconscious.” It wasn’t until I met people who had purchased my work, that I realized that others also connect to art on this level. When people look at paintings, an emotional response is evoked. I’ve had people tell me that when they look at my paintings, they are reminded of very important personal life stories.
I believe that major experiences that affect our lives can be represented by archetypal symbols. Pondering or meditating on the archetypal symbols can access knowledge of the collective unconscious. I have titled my ongoing series “Archetypes of the Feminine,” because it is the common experience of the feminine principal, in all its various forms, that connects me to the art and the art to the viewer.
For more reading on archetypes, see the writings of Carl Jung.
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more images from Susan Krieg's "Archetypes of the Feminine"
series
Susan Krieg painted more than two dozen murals duringher six year stay in Los Angeles