Unconscious Art

One night a few years ago I could not sleep-- I woke up in the middle of the night and went into my art studio and created this mixed media piece I now call " Button Boy."

A few days before this I had bought on old wooden puzzle back--the part the wooden puzzle pieces were meant to fit into---minus the actual puzzle pieces---at a garage sale. That become the base for "Button Boy"; it wasn't until a few weeks later I figured out just what this piece of art was about. At the time, I was working (my artist's day job) as a nanny for 9 year old triplet boys---this piece was about the triplets and the energy they brought into my life each day.

Over the years I have fairly consistently used my artmaking to unconsciously reflect my life at that moment. Whatever is consuming most of my time comes out of me in some creative way---whether in knitting, painting, drawing, mixed media, or beadwork---if I reflect on what I am creating, there is always a connection. Usually I am not aware of the connection when I am making the current piece---but afterwards I will have an aha! moment and suddenly see the correlation to my life right then.

Most of the time art I create in this mode I end up keeping because the art doesn't fit with the body of artwork I am making at the time and has too much personal significance to part with. I have used this process some--in therapy--to heal myself--but working with a therapist is not the same--if only because we were consciously using art to delve into my unconscious. Whereas, when I just go into my studio and create something--THEN discover later how what I just created is significant to my life---whatever I make is totally unconscious--much like acting out a dream. I am curious if other artists also find themselves creating "unconscious art"?