Jen Jovan Art Musings and Random Thoughts

Moth and Moon

6/3/2019

"Moth and Moon" - mixed media on repurposed plywood. NFS

This week in the studio there was a bit of meandering and off-road creating. A piece of plywood, a new moon, moths and a desire to do some visual journaling sent me down the rabbit hole and into symbolism and personal storytelling.

We go through so many phases, seasons and transformations in our humanness. Some of them are planned (like education and careers) while others are thrust upon us (illness, trauma, tragedy). Sometimes we make a choice to transform our lives or ourselves or one aspect of one of those. Those times, the on-purpose change journeys, are both terrifying and liberating. Like moths, we choose new forms to inhabit and new ways to navigate through the world - sometimes in the moonlight.

Moth and Moon

Lately I've been excavating my own stories. Unearthing some gems, but mostly examining the bones of my beliefs and my own mythology. It is hard work, this digging. Like the pupa preparing to emerge from the cocoon, I struggle to break free of old patterns and rigid constructs which no longer serve me well. Sometimes these are deeply imbedded, ancestral patterns. Other times it is just a fondness for a second cup of coffee. That universe - always with the jokes.

Excavation (for me) is easier when visual aids are used. This piece allowed me to imagine new paths and patterns, and will serve as a reminder of the gems I've found along the way. And it is a powerful image all by itself on the wall.

Hmmmm, I wonder... is there still time for more coffee? :)

4 Comments

Dotty Seiter link

6/3/2019 08:28:28 pm

Always time for more coffee, Jen!

---
Those portraits! Those eyeglasses! The 'blank photograph'! And your discussion of the hard work of digging and examining the bones of your beliefs. Magnificent. Powerful.

I'm intrigued by your use of visual aids for excavation.

jen

6/3/2019 09:06:14 pm

Dotty! I have to agree about the coffee...until it's two a.m. and I am still awake. ha ha!

So the "portraits" are black and white images of myself, glued down and then painted over. Looking inward, looking outward, looking to the other-worldly, and then a space for whatever is next. It helps "solidify" the excavation, and gives me a visual reminder of what I have learned. Good stuff.

Carol Edan link

6/4/2019 12:32:37 am

Just finished my first cuppa! Have blown up your image both windows side by side. Love how you have left some of the integrity of the plywood to show through. Just yesterday I received a mind-map that uses the same visuals to explore and dig under our surface, Yes really hard work, but who said living and art are easy, We try to ease the work with our playing but underneath its grit and hard work, but the release is overwhelming, I agree with Dotty, that blank photo is strong. Love the patterns and how they work together. Great path!

6/4/2019 10:10:31 am

Carol! I am reading your comment with my first cup of joe. :)

Mind-maps! Hard work, but you are so right - the release is worth it.

I love the texture of plywood, and the idea of something so unrefined peeking through a piece of art. Like our own rough inner selves, who aren't perfect and shouldn't try to be. Plywood is my secret art love!

Moth and Moon

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives