Image of the Week: The Unknown Path
© Durga Yael Bernhard
Here's a linoleum block print I created in 1994 in response to the writings of psychotherapist and former monk Thomas Moore. His popular books, Care of the Soul and Soulmates had a profound effect on me in my thirties. Moore's background in Jungian psychology made him fluent in the very archetypes that populated my art. He spoke of psychodynamics in spiritual terms, and mapped out the unfolding of the soul in a way that transcends morality. His writings encourage one to discover rather than determine the way out of life's seemingly intractable predicaments. I was struggling to unfold myself at the time, and Moore's ideas resonated.
An image came to me of that unfolding of our innermost soul, a fish-like person uncoiling in time and space – an essential self, embodied in form and energized with spirit. The path of allowing, accepting, and following is one that curves and changes direction, meandering as it goes, spiraling back on itself, unpredictable, organic – the only rule was to compose a harmonious arrangement within a chosen field – for that is what my life felt like metaphorically.
The solid black is the linoleum block surface that was rolled with ink and printed; the rest was carved away with chisel tools. I printed the image on assorted rice papers, including this lovely salmon pink, which I bought in large sheets and carefully tore by hand into smaller pieces. Printmakers cannot bear the sight of a sliced edge – it is sacrilege to the paper.
After the ink dried, I hand-painted the accompanying blush tones in gouache, with a touch of coral-colored pencil on top to add texture. In fine-art printing I see restricted color as an asset, as it heightens the graphic tension and makes the simplicity of the medium that much bolder. My infatuation with Inuit art – which as a contemporary art evolved mostly into prints – makes itself known here.
Like most of my prints, The Unknown Path was created as a small edition of maybe a dozen "artist's proofs" (that's the "A/P" you sometimes see written as a signature on original prints), half of which I hand-painted like this one. I sent one of these to Thomas Moore himself, care of HarperCollins. Some weeks later I received a polite note in the mail. He wrote that my print was one of the more unusual responses he had received to his books, and thanked me for the gift. What he really thought of my squirmy black creature, I'll never know.
I still have one or two of those original prints available. It's about 10" wide. The Unknown Path can also be ordered as a poster here, or as a greeting card here.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard
children's books • fine art • illustration
D Yael Bernhard