Cactus Gallery LA
REPAIRING THE PSYCHE by artist Liz Huston
$ 65.00
Archival Pigment Print // Mixed Media Work: Digital photomontage, watercolor and acrylic, 8" x 10" unframed print
We all have instincts, but how well are we attuned to them? How often do we actually follow the gut instinct of ours? In our modern society the instinctual signals we receive and threats we perceive are very different from what our ancestors experienced. Many of us are not truly in touch with our instincts any longer, and are in desperate need of repairing them. Freud believed that the id (which is responsible for our instincts) could not be altered or repaired. Perhaps that is true, which makes the task actually one of awareness and practice. To practice by honing our instincts in our quickly changing society by more often following them - step by step, little by little.
Freud’s model of the human psyche was elegantly divided into three major components; the id, the ego and the superego.
The id (the face in the stitched canvas) is the only component of the three with us at birth. The id is responsible for inherited aspects of our personality, our instincts, and is headstrong in directing the fulfillment of our needs and desires.
The superego (the figure clothed in black) has two faces; the conscience and the ideal self. The conscience side of the superego rules our morality - a morality which we internalize from what we learned from our parents and society. The superego’s ideal self is who pushes for perfectionism, an entirely unattainable ideal, which the ego is forever striving to meet.
The ego (figure clothed in red) is the mediator between the id, the idealistic standards of the superego and the external world. The id is calling the shots but the ego determines when it is appropriate and possible to fulfill the id’s demands.
We all have instincts, but how well are we attuned to them? How often do we actually follow the gut instinct of ours? In our modern society the instinctual signals we receive and threats we perceive are very different from what our ancestors experienced. Many of us are not truly in touch with our instincts any longer, and are in desperate need of repairing them. Freud believed that the id (which is responsible for our instincts) could not be altered or repaired. Perhaps that is true, which makes the task actually one of awareness and practice. To practice by honing our instincts in our quickly changing society by more often following them - step by step, little by little.
Freud’s model of the human psyche was elegantly divided into three major components; the id, the ego and the superego.
The id (the face in the stitched canvas) is the only component of the three with us at birth. The id is responsible for inherited aspects of our personality, our instincts, and is headstrong in directing the fulfillment of our needs and desires.
The superego (the figure clothed in black) has two faces; the conscience and the ideal self. The conscience side of the superego rules our morality - a morality which we internalize from what we learned from our parents and society. The superego’s ideal self is who pushes for perfectionism, an entirely unattainable ideal, which the ego is forever striving to meet.
The ego (figure clothed in red) is the mediator between the id, the idealistic standards of the superego and the external world. The id is calling the shots but the ego determines when it is appropriate and possible to fulfill the id’s demands.
