Anima-Animus

Title Anima/Animus

Date 2021

Series Alchemy

Materials

Pen and iron gall ink on archival pigment print with gold and silver leaf
20x30”
Framed 26x35”

Anima/Animus


In the “conjunction” stage of alchemy, the chemicals combine to create a new substance. Spiritually, this also represents the integration of both positive (socially acceptable) and negative (shadow) personality traits.

The two halves (both dominant and repressed) of one’s personality are expressed in this image as Carl Jung’s “anima/animus,” archetypal qualities of male and female much like the yin/yang principle.

Here they are slightly separated; this shows the psyche in the middle of the conjunction process, on its way to becoming a newer, more wholesome Self.

Redrawn from an anonymous woodcut dissecting the Four Humors.

Anima/Animus

Alchemy

This series explores ancient alchemical symbols against the backdrop of modern, everyday life.