Protective Styles for the Mind

 The lines in my work will guide you through the symmetry of my lineage. They will wrap themselves around my brain and work their way through my mental health. The lines in my work will tell the viewer a story about my love of  puzzles and how it influences my artistic process. Think about the image as a whole and how it will change as your eye travels throughout it. Just like the principles in Gestalt psychology, how we interpret what we see is based on science. Understanding why we see art the way we do has been articulated by Gestalt theorist and German author Rudolf Arnheim in the late 1900s. Throughout the decades many artists struggle to understand how to translate that in their work whether it be painting, drawing or photography. The abstraction of the form is one way I use to allow the viewer to experience my work in several different ways. By using different parts of the body like Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu’s work, you can get several new perspectives. Looking deeper within an artwork can often lead to a viewer looking deeper into themselves. The layers within my work create a sort of palimpsest where you can see the separate pieces that were put together to create the fuller artwork. When it comes to my work, I would love for the viewer to self-reflect and ask themselves what they see, why they see it and how they feel about it. 

In my life, I have had many bouts with my mental health. I have struggled with horrible depression and anxiety and all the hardships that it entails. Since the age of 12 or 13, I have been  medicated for these ailments and after seeing different therapists and psychologists, I have come to understand myself better. I have also encountered so many friends and family members within the BIPOC community that struggle with the same things. The reason I focus so much on BIPOC mental health is that I always hear stories, and have witnessed first-hand, how much of a problem it is and how it is not taken as seriously as it should be. There is a distrust of western medicine amongst black communities because of the medical atrocities faced during the slavery and segregation era. Many BIPOC communities are also deeply religious and would rather put their faith in God than in a system that wronged them. Because of this a lot of people go untreated by doctors and look for other ways to cope. One way I learned to cope was through art of course, but another way was by solving puzzles. From a young age, I always loved puzzle games from crosswords to sudoku to board games. I just loved being able to solve things other people couldn’t; it helped run the bad thoughts in my head away. When I got older I started incorporating my problem-solving and my creative eye to create a safe space for myself, especially at work. I worked at an Escape Room which allowed me to creatively solve problems by fixing props in a way that my coworkers didn’t think of. Such as crafting a device to hold the wires up underneath a set or creating props that helped add to the overall game. I also worked at a toy store that helped fuel my love for board games whilst also daydreaming about creating my own puzzles one day. Both mental-health and puzzle-solving have that mental connection that inspires a lot of my work. 

Gestalt psychology was founded in the early 20th century in Germany by psychologist Max Wetheimer. The movement of the Gestalt theory was based upon the idea that the brain perceives a unified image before it looks at the individual shapes that form it. There are several different principles that were formed from this theory to explain why the mind works in this way. The Law of Good Figure refers to perceiving objects in the foreground and background. The Law of Proximity and the Law of Common Region state that we read objects that are close or within the space as a whole. Our eye travels the smoothest route when looking around an image is the Law of Continuity. The Law of Closure describes how we allow our brains to fill in the missing parts of a familiar image. The Law of Similarity refers to the image as a whole being balanced or symmetrical and is the law that I have been focusing on for this series. This law is a continuous theme throughout my work because it deals with two even halves or symmetrical parts to create that balance. My work is specifically looking at symmetry and how it can be used in multiple ways within the same work; thus creating a balanced work of art that has so many different meanings.

Rudolf Arnheim, a German author, who wrote extensively about the perception of art, was a big believer in gestalt psychology and his works helped me further understand this theory. In his book Art and Visual Perception, Arnheim's first chapter about balance makes a great point that “man strives for equilibrium in all phases of his physical and mental existence.” (p.36) There is something interesting about the fact that balance is what we strive for in our everyday lives. When something is off kilter we look for a way to solve it to put our universe back in order. This could be in the form of something as simple as sharing a muffin. When we cut it to share we always strive to make each side equal. It’s a habit at this point. When it comes to working on a piece of art, the artist, as well as the viewer can almost always feel when the painting is too top heavy or too side heavy. Some people can’t put it into words but it’s one of those things that has them tilting their heads, or artists flipping their paintings. In the second chapter of Art and Visual Perception, shape is used to further support the idea of gestalt psychology. It is true that when we look at anything, we try to find the familiar shape found in something we are looking at. This directly links our perception to our memory and our minds as a whole. “This influence of memory is heightened when a strong personal need makes the observer want to see objects of given perceptual properties.” (p.50) In what circumstances could this theory be tested? The Rorschach inkblot tests of the early 1900s give the perfect example of how this perception is greatly subjective from person to person.

Hermann Rorschach was born in the late 1880s in Zürich, Switzerland. He was always attracted to the strange designs in inkblots which could have been attributed to his father, Ulrich Rorschach, being an artist. After high school he continued into the medical field and graduated in 1909. During college and after he worked in a psychiatric ward and that’s where he started to become interested in psychoanalysis, which is a type of therapy to help treat mental disorders by looking at the conscious and unconscious mind. Early inkblot studies helped him develop a working test. He was then able to distinguish common personality traits, emotions and characteristics that afflicted his patients. Ten years later, his findings were published and titled Psychodiagnostik.  It consisted of 10 inkblot tests, which we now know as the Rorschach test.

Symmetry and balance can be found throughout our natural environment almost everywhere we look. Most insects, bugs and animals have bilateral symmetry which is when both the right and left half are equal. Other organisms that are circular in shape have radial symmetry which means it is symmetrical when split equally from the center. As humans we are bilaterally symmetrical unless of course we have a missing limb or a deformity. Most of our bodies have two arms, two legs, two eyes, etc. Our minds are constantly working to fill in the gaps and find the missing piece so that when something is not symmetrical we notice right away. The brain can perceive a symmetrical object better than it can an asymmetrical one because that is how our mind works when looking at a visual field. So, it is no surprise that people gravitate towards symmetry. 

Within the African diaspora there are many instances of symmetry that connect our culture and the art world. A distant relative of my family did an African ancestry test not too long ago and discovered that my lineage on my mother’s side comes from the Bamileke Tribe and the Mbenzele pygmy tribe in Cameroon. Finding out this information was life changing and it made me dig deeper into the art practices of my African lineage as well as my African American culture. How could I connect this information to my artistic practice of symmetry and the connection of nature? When thinking about any African art collection or any ancient art collection there is always one constant which is masks. Tribal masks not only inform a viewer of a tribe’s artistic practice but it also tells a story about the traditions and rituals of that tribe. For instance, the Bamileke Elephant Mask, as seen to the left, is made with imported beads laid within the shape of one of the strongest animals within the continent, the elephant. This could inform the viewer that someone of regal status wears this mask. In actuality the king, or fon of the tribe, as well as other high ranking males wear this mask during ceremonial performances. Within today’s African American society, there is another form of art that is often overlooked, but it helped inform my artistic process. 

The art of hair braiding in the African American community is like a right of passage. Most braids can be traced back to Africa, whether it’s in Ancient Egyptians amongst the hieroglyphs in the walls or rock paintings found in the Sahara desert. Cornrows, which refers to the style of hair braiding that keeps the hair close to the scalp in an intricate pattern, as seen below. Cornrows got the name from its design looking like rows of corn. Back in Africa, cornrows and many other forms of braiding techniques were used to suggest marital status, hierarchy, age and tribal relations. During the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade cornrows were used to hide seeds of rice and other foods to keep themselves nourished. My enslaved ancestors used cornrows to depict maps that led them to freedom. Protective styles that come in various forms of braiding help prevent the damage that weather and everyday styling can cause. This tradition has been held up throughout African American communities and will continue to thrive as new techniques and designs are created. The weaving in these intricate hair designs is something that I will use to further influence my artistic process. By creating a pattern similar to the ones these cornrow designs create thus giving my piece another layer of dimension.

At the start of my process of creating an image, I first have to create multiple line drawings with no shading. When I work on my line drawings I make sure to include the various shapes I see within the figure. Things like the curved triangular shape of the cheekbone or the circular shape that is the meat of the nose start to form. These drawings are then traced separately onto tracing paper which allows me to see through them and look at how each form will connect to the other. Sometimes I will trace the drawing twice, once in its original orientation and another in the opposite. This helps me better picture what shape can form out of the same drawings when placed back to back. It also allows for some editing; whether I need to erase some lines so they don’t overlap and make unnecessary interactions. 

For the next part of my process, I rely heavily on research. I will cycle through images of symmetrical patterns and forms found in nature to reference. Once I choose an image, let’s say in this instance it’s a yellow swallowtail butterfly (Right figure), I start to look at my figure drawings. I’ll take into consideration the various shapes that form the butterfly, such as the thick triangular forms that make up the majority of the wing. I do take into account that not all shapes are going to match a shape within my drawings. When that happens I will connect two separate images and see what shape forms from the space in between them; using some lines from both drawings to create the right fit. While starting to build the drawing I get another transparent sheet and trace the images to build the form. This allows me to edit easily as I go back and forth between several images without having to mess up the first drawing I did on tracing paper. 

Once I am done forming all the shapes within the butterfly with the anatomy of my line drawings I start to work on the Rorschach test that will be layered underneath the piece. Much like how they originally created Rorschach tests, I start by folding a piece of watercolor paper in half to create that line in the middle. I will then start dropping black watercolor paint on one-half of the paper. When I feel I have enough paint I fold the piece of paper into itself and press  down onto it to move the paint around. When I open it I have the start of a multi-layered inkblot test. I will then start to add more layers, mostly in earth tones like black, brown, and yellow. While working on this part, I will sometimes add a layer of India ink that breaks up some of the watercolor inkblots. Using black watercolor first instead of ink allows me to see the depth being created with the multiple layers. Then adding India ink creates an opaque layer that you can’t see through and helps add dimension. Also, the India ink sometimes forms resists where the ink separates and creates a circular pattern. This adds to the texture of the piece and helps bring this background forward. Once I feel the inkblot has enough layers I will lay the drawing on top to see if it feels cohesive. I will sometimes create several inkblot tests until I feel I have a good match for the drawing. My artistic process is almost like putting together the pieces of a puzzle trying to figure out where things may go. There is a lot of trial and error within it so, when an inkblot test that I worked on doesn’t fit with a drawing I put it to the side. Sometimes that old inkblot test will show its face in another work because it worked better with the drawing I made later on. 

The last part of my process involves creating the pattern that is inspired by the cornrow designs I’ve seen throughout my life. I start by looking at that familiar imagery and draw out puzzle piece shaped designs that have the texture of the hair style I am wanting to portray as seen in the image to the left.  This drawing gets transferred to linoleum and then carved out to create a stamp. I then use these various stamps to go on and create designs over the Rorschach tests as seen in the image to the right. The designs are not planned out and are a direct response to the Rorschach I am stamping over. This allows for every design to be original and for my work to be more spontaneous in nature. It brings back this love of puzzle solving and becomes a form of therapy for me. By making the stamps textured to represent certain hairstyles, I am connecting with viewers of the African diaspora who have this shared experience of seeing these designs throughout their life. By putting these designs over Rorschach tests, I am hoping to foster a conversation around mental health within this very group. 

Artists like Wangechi Mutu, whose work inspires me heavily, have a very specific process to creating their work that can only be understood by them. She describes her process as a kind of surgery she is performing. “It happens in tiers…” she starts off in her interview with Border Crossings Magazine,  “Maybe that life size looks a little too literal, so I slowly augment things… So I disrupt it, I remove a limb, or change the elbow.” She cuts into images of body parts from magazine pages and pieces them together to create her own idea of a human body, sort of like Frankenstein. This is very similar to my process of taking my line drawing of body parts and layering them, erasing certain parts of my drawing to fit the narrative of what I want the image to look like. She is able to combine her cultural heritage, her love of nature and human anatomy into these multi-layered pieces as well as her sculptures. When you look at her newer sculptural pieces such as Crocodylus, 2020, pictured to the right, you can see that melding of the human world and the animal kingdom. My earlier drawings very similarly are inspired by nature, specifically the symmetry in nature and how we can connect to it. Her artistic process also closely relates to mine in the way she creates her images like a puzzle. Her earlier collage work, seen pictured on the left, specifically when looking at it, gives you a sense into how she made it. Sometimes she paints first and then you can see how the collaged pictures are worked into the piece. You can feel a synergy within her work as your eyes roam over her pieces. You are sort of going through the same process of solving the maze that is her work like she did when creating it. When the viewer looks at my work, I hope they can imagine themselves in my position. Working out how I put the pieces together while also looking into their own thought process that got them to that place. 

  The imagery in my work will not always relate to every viewer but it will make every viewer think. It will open up your mind to the new possibilities of what the eye can see and process. The wise words of Arnheim have captured what makes us special as humans; our idea of perception is our own and the gestalt psychological principles help us further understand that. What comes with understanding that is a sense of self reflection. And self-reflection leads to a deep dive into what and who you are. My self-reflection brought me further into my lineage in Africa with the Bamileke tribe. It made me look at the work of my ancestral tribes and how that symmetry is something that is passed through generations, whether it’s in our tribal costumes or in the cornrows within our hair. There is a common theme of these two even halves that attracts us. The strands that lay on our head weaved into these designs have a direct correlation to our mind and the possibilities that can come when looking at things differently.  My work is a palimpsest of puzzles that helps me heal by creating something that showcases the layers of my life and what it means to be me. There’s an importance of mental health that is emphasized within my work through the many head and mind euphemisms. Head has multiple definitions in the dictionary and the way I define it through my work takes on all those layers. It is first defined as the leading position or to be at the front of. My journey into my African ancestry takes on this definition as I incorporate the first layers of my lineage within Bamileke tribal art. The upper part of the human body is the second definition, including the cornrow imagery. The location of intellect, intelligence and memory correlate to the psychological tests in my mind. And once you start to understand and peel back these layers of my creations the viewer has already started on their journey of self-reflection.