The power of inner images and what connects them to my art
In this post you will learn about the potential of working with inner images and how I use it to show possibilities through my art to help you access your inner power.
Imagination – the power of inner images
In everyday life, our thoughts and thus our imagination are constantly active. Mostly, however, this process escapes our conscious perception and we do not notice how we influence our feeling, thinking and acting through the mechanisms running in the subconscious.1
The language of the unconscious is a language of images. Imagination, which works with inner images, thus forms a gateway to the unconscious.2 The images come to the surface as representatives of our feelings and emotional forces and thus form a bridge between our unconscious and conscious worlds.3
Furthermore, our imagination is closely connected to the sensory perception of our body. When we imagine something intensively, the body reacts to it quite automatically. Thus, even purely internal imaginative images can have significant effects on our organism.
Exciting images can speed up the heartbeat, make us sweat or trigger feelings of anxiety. Pleasant inner images, on the other hand, can calm the heartbeat, breathing as well as thoughts, make feelings brighter and relax the body.4
Regardless of whether it is a memory from the past or the future, the brain does not distinguish between what you imagine and what you actually experience.5
Through the targeted use of inner images via our imagination, we can therefore actively connect with the subconscious and consciously influence our lives.
Creating nurturing inner images through fantasy journeys
I myself, for example, love to visit my personal power place as part of a fantasy journey to recharge my batteries. Or my inner space of tranquility to feed my subconscious with feelings of security, safety and relaxation.
Fantasy journeys are imagination or visualization exercises and belong to the imaginative methods.6 Their options are multiple, because anything is possible in our imagination. We can invent and create whatever we desire. We can walk in strange worlds, meet others, find solutions, experience joy, love, and ecstasy, acquire new behaviors, change our identities, and develop new values and beliefs. We can simply pretend, breaking down barriers and creating new possibilities.7
The more often and intensively we evoke these nourishing inner images through our imagination, the more sustainably they also influence our feelings, thoughts and actions in everyday life.
We also learn that we are allowed to fantasize and that we can find many answers within ourselves by accessing our creative imagination. Thus, fantasy journeys ultimately promote the development of the entire personality and allow us to access our inner source of strength. And we learn that no matter what happened in the past, there is always the possibility for change.8
How I expand the experience of my art through fantasy journeys
You may remember what I intend to achieve with my art: I create works with which I want to address people, including you, on a deeper level. I encourage you to dare to look inward, to get a sense of yourself and to recharge your inner batteries.
And I do this with art that goes beyond the visual experience of my works. For this I create short fantasy journeys, which deepen the personal examination of the themes of my works and bring you deeper into feeling.
However, it is not about specific details of my paintings. The works serve as an introduction to the respective topic and into the fantasy journey, which I design very openly. You then have the opportunity to make your individual experiences and to deal with your own emotions and thoughts related to the topic.
My work then becomes a symbol or memento for your personal inner images that you experienced during the fantasy journey.
If you want to be one of the first to see my fantasy journeys (in German), just sign up for my newsletter (in German) and don’t miss any new videos.
You want to experience my fantasy journeys yourself? I will publish all new videos on my YouTube channel. I look forward to your visit ❤️
An even deeper insight into the topic you can get in my diploma thesis “IMAGINATION & KUNST – Über die Kraft von inneren Bildern, Fantasiereisen und die malerisch-künstlerische Auseinandersetzung mit ihren Inhalten”. (Available in German only)
References:
1 Vgl. Petrig, Gabriele / Baisch-Zimmer, Saskia (2013): Mentaltraining für Jugendliche. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz, p. 13.
2 Vgl. Leithner-Steiner, Elke (2016): Licht werden – Imagination in Therapie und Beratung. Krems: Springer, p. 19.
3 Vgl. Böschemeyer, Uwe (2004): In der Tiefe ist es hell. In: Bucher, Anton (Hrsg.): Erziehung – Therapie – Sinn. Münster: LIT, p. 241.
4 Vgl. Bieber, Sylvia (2010): Reisen ins Land der Seele. Darmstadt: Schirner, p. 19f.
5 Vgl. Petrig, Gabriele / Baisch-Zimmer, Saskia (2013): Mentaltraining für Jugendliche. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz, p. 13.
6 Vgl. Dinger-Broda, Andrea (2013): Fantasiereisen. In: Psychotherapie im Dialog, 14. Jg., H. 4, p. 10.
7 Bieber, Sylvia (2010): Reisen ins Land der Seele. Darmstadt: Schirner, p. 11
8 Vgl. Petrig, Gabriele / Baisch-Zimmer, Saskia (2013): Mentaltraining für Jugendliche. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz, p. 33f.
