Abstract

The focus of my current work is the incorporation of psychology and art. Studies in both areas and their confluence are reflected in each other and characterized by two things important to both fields: experimentation and curiosity.

For psychology, my experimentation dealt with the importance of color and art medium in relation to stress. Participants were asked to use two different art mediums, ceramics and drawing, with two different options for the occurrence of color, present or absent. Their blood pressures were recorded efore and after the session. The second blood pressure was then subtracted from the initial blood pressure to generate the participant’s scores. The results found systolic blood pressure, the measure most important for stress reduction, as being most significant for an interaction between the presence of color and clay.

For art, the focus of my work was the embodiment of ideas rooted in experimentation and theories of psychology. One of the specific concepts addressed in these terra-cotta art works is Sigmund Freud’s theory of the id, ego, and superego are symbolized in a playful three-headed dog. The first head, representing the id is a feral wolf driven and controlled by desire and impulse. The opposite head, representing the superego is a Labrador guided by the conscious ignoring impulse. The center head, representing the ego is an alpha and Doberman and tries to satisfy desires of both the id and superego.  Artworks inspired by other psychological concepts include the theory of evolutionary attraction, amnesia, and pica.