TOTEMS AND FAMILIARS
Over our lifetimes, we may develop a personal symbology that help us make sense of our experiences. They stabilize our inner world when it is knocked askew. These long-held images that help us remember who we are.
In Totems and Familiars, we explored those images for as bases for portraits. There were three categories from which they could choose such imagery:
1. AN ANIMAL FAMILIAR. As in a witch’s familiar, a creature that provides secret knowledge of the super/natural world. These were along the lines of animal spirit guides, not pets or even “favorite” animals; rather, entities that reflected something of the subject’s self-image.
2. A POWER OBJECT. A real object invested with imaginary magical powers, such as an heirloom, a tool, a garment, a toy, or significant gift. Some of my collaborators chose elements of nature (i.e. water).
3. A HERO. A real person with whom my collaborator strongly identified. Someone that functioned as an alter ego and/or role model.
