Laura Ball
Statement Choose Your Own Adventure "It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant
human fantasies that tend to tie it back. In fact, it may well be that the very high incidence of neuroticism among ourselves follows from the decline among us of
such effective spiritual aid. We remain fixated to the unexorcised images of our infancy, and hence disinclined to the necessary passages of our adulthood." Conflicts and struggles that complicate the human experience continue to inspire my investigations. For "Choose Your Own Adventure", the heroic journey of world
myths and the events of the subconscious provide sources for conflict and struggle that move from the world into the depths of the psyche "into unsuspected Aladdin caves...
where not only jewels but also dangerous jinn abide: the inconvenient or resisted psychological powers that we have not thought or dared to integrate into our lives ." (Campbell)
Pivotal moments from the heroines' journeys inspire the paintings and watercolors, which can in turn be read as universal icons that map progress along life's path. Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" provides a road map for guiding my heroines through tests and rituals, across thresholds of transformation and
rites of passage. As the heroines cross the boundary into the subconscious realm the real battles and conflicts unfold. Along the way they are challenged by
supernatural creatures and manifestations of the ego and guided by animal totems and guardians as they answer the call to adventure.
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