Pathways to Creativity:
The Journey Towards Authenticity
Back
The
Beginning
Next
THE EMERGING SELF
Materials: Soft Pastels on Paper
Artist: Guillermo Cuéllar
This pastel drawing emerged as I was trying to portray the uncomfortable feelings I'd experienced during a Thanksgiving family reunion. To start, I drew a heavy dark ball, symbolizing my depression. As I drew how I was feeling, the feelings began to change. Within just a short time I felt loving and accepting. I was no longer stuck in depression, and the ball I was drawing transformed, reflecting these inner changes.
This process of acceptance led me to create the waves of energy surrounding the ball. They represent a container on the page which holds the love which the ball came to symbolize.
Today as I look at the pastel, it reminds me of hands of love holding the earth. A friend of mine sees an embryo about to attach itself to the uterine wall. As life begins, love is the environment that lets the Self emerge.
Autobiographical statement
While making art, I often wish that it would look different. This mental noise has been the greatest of teachers. Accepting my art helps me accept myself. Art, like everything else that I do, expresses who I am. It has been there as my safe haven, a place where I practice first looking and then seeing. My own symbols and metaphors as reflected in my art help me to see others and the world more clearly.
I have dedicated my life to expressing my truth and supporting the truth in others. This has taken many forms, from scientist, artist, and counselor, to my present occupation as an organizational development consultant.