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| (Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!) |
ART FROM DREAMS: MY JUNGIAN JOURNEY in COLLAGE, ASSEMBLAGE, and POETRY celebrates artistic expression as an exploration for self-awareness. Art-making and poetry reveal to ourselves and to others the images and feelings that arise within us in dreams. The very process of creation taps into the source of our inner wisdom. The mediums of collage and assemblage illustrate that readers do not need to have any experience or expertise in art to use their images for personal insight. Poetry itself can be accessible as a collage of named images put together in various forms to communicate to and from our innermost selves.
my thoughts:
I love poetry and art and anything creative that reflects someone's internal thoughts, emotions, opinions. So, when I was offered the chance to review Susan Levin's book, Art from Dreams, I jumped at the chance. How could I not? A book filled with poems and images of the artwork that resulted from Levin's experience with a professional Jungian dream analyst and her dreams. I found myself utterly captivated by it all. The idea of how much our dreams can influence and inspire our creativity is fascinating. And just from looking through Levin's book, I can see that she was deeply compelled to explore and examine her dreams. She was able to reflect her subconscious through images and words in such an artistically authentic manner. The items she chose to put in her assemblages do not merely represent themselves, but they also become a part of her narrative and take on a new identity. I loved this idea of re-purposing in her art.
I love the images we get from Levin and can see them running through her mind during her nighttime slumbers - they are so clearly reflected in these beautiful, thought-provoking pieces. From one piece to the next, you are able to get a peek into Levin's personal world (past, present, and future). As for the poetry that accompanies the artwork in the first part of the book, they were written after each piece had been created. I'm in love with these two poems:
Mother
Instincts can malfunction
Become defective, deficient, half-baked
There should be a recipe for Motherhood
Exact measurements
The precise amount of ingredient
Or else sweets for no one
Picasso Dream
Dreamt Picasso said:
keep trying different things
Life itself is art
Art from Dreams by Susan Levin is definitely a book that I will happily peruse time and time again. I love the idea that each time I open the book, I will be discovering something new inside - the meanings will change over time for me and I love that about art and poetry. This is one book that I would happily recommend to fans of poetry, art, and books about dreams.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!
2 comments:
I like dipping in and out of books like this: savoring a poem here and a thought there. Love the poem selections you chose, especially the Picasso Dream! I've already jotted it down in my notebook. :)
Lark, me too! Sometimes that's the best way to read the book ;)
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