The dark side of the self and the shadow

This research investigates how a sculpted material shadow might influence a viewer’s perception of a three dimensional sculptural figure to reveal, visually or symbolically, fundamental human traits that may not be consciously observed. Investigation of the shadow as an expressive and tangible object is the focus of this research. I am dealing with the shadow not as a result of light blocked by an object, but as an object in itself. A primary objective of this new direction in my practice, is to analyse the extent to which an expressive, and in some cases three–dimensional, material shadow enhances the understanding of the nature, and predicament of the figure and how the shadow might reveal a truth that is otherwise not a descriptor of the casting figure. The artists and media I have selected to examine provide background and clear parameters of the depiction and philosophy of the shadow throughout art history. The purpose of these observations is to illustrate the symbolic and psychological aspects of the shadow that will culminate in a clear articulation of the three dimensional sculptural figure. The aim throughout this research has been to develop a rationale that would visually describe the Jungian notion of ‘the dark side of the self’, which Jung called ‘the shadow’. The psychological aspects that can be associated with the shadow, form a primary component of this study. Other significant components of this research examine the contradictory meanings and duality associated with Ancient Egyptian funerary culture and the ambiguity between shadow and reflection.