Art Images Associated with States of Expanded Consciousness: A Study of the Individual Case

A description is given of a single case study of an individual who experienced a number of spontaneous, positive, expanded states of consciousness. The study is centred on a six-month period when the subject underwent a radical, disorienting change in his way of understanding the world. This change is interpreted as a shift in primary constructs. His state of consciousness and the eventual resolution of the crisis are analysed through:

1. 1.   

   A content analysis of his dream diary which showed that during this time there was a more than three-fold increase in the frequency of entries and that the majority of images fell into three broad categories: dreams with images of chaos; dreams with images of compensation; and dreams with images of reorganization;

2. 2.   

   A description of new developments and themes in his sculpture and a major change in his approach to making art.

The expanded states of consciousness, the crisis, the increase in dreaming, the dream and art symbols are analysed from a number of theoretical viewpoints, including reference to analytical psychology, dream research and anthropological data. However, special emphasis is placed on system and personal construct theories of consciousness as well as recent findings in brain physiology—particularly left and right hemisphere differences—as a means of interpreting the observations and of generalizing from the material.