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I work as a psychotherapist, often with artists, and display some of these images in my treatment room. From time to time my clients mention them and they become part of the discussion, usually when artists are talking about difficulties they are having with their creative process, sometimes in a spiritual context. The combination of natural elements (the photographs of flowers that these images are based on) and digital manipulation into the mandala form seems both to stimulate and to relax.
My personal motivation in creating this work was to heal from a decade of both physical and emotional trauma. Subconsciously, I arrived at the mandala form with the hexagram -- the Star of David -- as its organizing shape. I believe my choice of the hexagram was no accident. In many traditions, this star, composed of two overlapping triangles, represents the reconciliation of opposites -- male/female, fire/water, and so on. Their combination symbolizes unity and harmony. In the Jewish tradition, the six points of the Star of David are also said to stand for God's rule over the universe in all six directions: north, south, east, west, up and down. Working with these forms by painting with light -- the literal definition of the term "photography" -- helped bring me back from the darkness into the light.
Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology, believed mandalas are a pathway to the essential Self and used them in his own personal transformation. In a small way, as both mandala artist and psychotherapist, I carry on Jung's tradition. I hope these images will further the process of harnessing the power of the mandala to heal.
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