FROM THE MOON TO THE FIXED STAR WORLD – M.Aleman

For as long as I can remember I have been interested in different systems. It has been in widely different areas, but the systems have had in common that they want to demonstrate consistency and create a whole. A kind of microcosm that mirrors the macrocosm. As a sixteen-year-old I began to practice Transcendental Meditation, followed by a diligent search and study; Reflexology, Shiatzu, Astrology, Numerology, Spiritualism, Macrobiotic diet, Swedenborgianism, Anthroposophy, I Ching, Tarot, yoga, mental training, psychoanalysis, various forms of therapies and of esotericism.
My grandfather, who came from Skåne, worked as a pastor in the Pentecostal church. In the 1940s he was sent on a mission to Port Said in Egypt and during the 9 years by the Nile he received a revelation and became a Swedenborgian.

Night dreams have always been important in my upbringing, since my father was a psychoanalyst and my mother a psychotherapist influenced by Swedenborg. When I was studying Artistic research, at Konstfack in Stockholm in 2012, I chose to examine Emanuel Swedenborg’s teachings in general and his Dream Diary in particular. The university course became a turning point; after that I began to intertwine my spiritual and deep psychological knowledge with my art.

In this exhibition, I have worked autobiographically with inspiration based on the 7-year cycles which forms the orbit of the planet Saturn around the Sun. I have immersed myself in Rudolf Steiner’s research on the periods in biography work, a system of rhythms and laws. During each 7-year cycle we process different stages of development physically, mentally, and spiritually. In addition, the periods have connections to various planets, metals, colors, and internal organs. I decided to work with everything from the Moon’s period, age 0-7, until that the Fixed Star world takes over, at age 63, which I just turned. I have methodically made inner journeys, by practicing Active Imagination and then, directly after, drawn a picture. The method has been developed by the psychoanalyst Carl- Gustav Jung and is a kind of awaken dreaming. Initially I used Active imagination in therapy situations in the early 1990s, but later it’s been a part of my studio work. During the sessions I completely let go of my theoretical knowledge and instead travel in my own biography. I have experienced many encounters with people, animals, and environments. Certain events have appeared, and new ones have been added, so to speak. The sessions can take anything from 20 minutes up to 2 hours. When still in a mood from my trip, I let my hand – sometimes both hands – move like they want, with the chalk on the surface. I rarely erase or add anything. I think of this as a performative act rather than a conscious making of a drawing. The work that

appears is always a surprise to myself, visually unrelated to my inner journey. Yet I can recognize the picture, in my feeling, on an energy level.