ESSAY FOR THAUMATURGY FOTOFEST EXHIBITION
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George O Jackson de Llanoʼs work draws from his “Personajes Clandestinos Escondidos en la Luz, Colores y Sombras de La Obscuridad” a (Clandestine Personages Hiding in the Light, Colors, and Shadows of Darkness) portfolio. A Jungian lens to Jacksonʼs work focuses on his invitation to imagine for oneself and “find” what h)s been obscured and hidden. Jackson allusions to Rorschach is apt but then canʼt it be argued that we can always “discover” our stories through the projection of ourselves onto inchoate blots. Jacksonʼs works are
more than blots, they cannot fail to evoke and are full of, in Jacksonʼs words, “spirits.” Indeed, standing in front of these images, one cannot fail to experience personal and potent archetypal responses to the “expressions” of these “personages.” Carl Jung once famously had an argument with an inner “daemon,” who argued that Jungʼs fantasizing was “art,” to which he responded that it was “science.” Jung also was known to have delved into the esoteric “science” of alchemy, getting lost in its hidden and secretive meanings for a period of no less than 10 years. His work with alchemy was warned against because of the potential to harm his reputation. Jungʼs fascination with his own image making and forays into alchemy has brought us many useful and helpful insights in the realm of both psychology and the arts. Witnessing Jackson work and his own description harkens to the origin of what it means to be “fascinated.” It is a bewitchment. Jackson describes the “spirits” that cast their spell on him. I trail off here with the question, what are these spirits narrating and where are we going with this important and evocative work? Anna Guerra Jungian Analyst |