Box of Secrets

The first drawing of the week is of the abdomen…to my surprise and somewhat puzzlement, what drew me was a box of signs, codes, symbols - a box of secrets; my mystery…memories reminiscent of childhood - a boat, a garden fence, and seemingly random symbols - a road veering in two, a box of questions marks dancing in the space around my even larger box, a huge heart, lots of arrows and a plethora of blue, the sea…movement, transition. Following a movement score to tune in to the breathe and the feeling of the abdomen, I wrote a short story, a kind of realist fantasy. Walking into a cave full of white light, I stood immersed in my ethereal emptiness…I was the cave and the cave were I… finding myself in the sea, floating on my back, I watched the abdomen objects from my picture swim past me. Feeling wonder and stillness, the sea became my home, my sanctuary - my box of secrets a mystery to me. What do they symbolize?, how does there very memory affect what is happening on a deeper level in my body? Throughout the training we have been learning how to ‘read’ our pictures, how to move with our pictures and how our pictures can inform our lives; what is missing, is there a symbolic key?, a sense of tension,  negative space, and how colors, force and detail can connote feelings, emotions and even sensations. Whilst it is important to offer a sense of separation with the picture (not conceiving is as an’ exact’ or ‘true’ representation of the self), it can provide clues to work with in the life / art process. The abdomen holds many of the bodies vital organs and is imperative in absorption of nutrients, processing and eliminating toxins. Seeking a relationship between these organic functions and the emotional bridge we must shift to the metaphorical resonance to gain a fully understanding of our art / writing / movement practice. To give a taste….separating necessary from unnecessary, contracting and releasing, assimilation and rejection, discernment sorting, umbilicus nourishment, gut feelings - the list goes on. What became apparent later whilst exploring my relationship with my own picture was the exclusion of vital organs and the realization that I considered the abdomen as the stomach! This was an interesting find having worked with emotional  and physical ‘issues’ with the stomach before and feeling a deep rooted need to cleanse this area…..my box of secrets and lodged memories bleeding into the continuation of the week with poetic velocity. Part 2 shortly!