Catherine Jo Morgan - Art for Energy™

800-305-0601

Bowls and Aliveness

Words and peak experiences are powerful but often transitory, easily forgotten in the push of everyday life. As a reminder of one's soul - of one's true self, purpose, and path - the right picture is worth a thousand words. For even more evocative power, a three dimensional sculpture is worth a thousand pictures. This is especially true in a touch starved modern world. If one can interact with the sculpture, touching it, adding to it, taking things from it, it gains even more power.

Thus bowl sculptures are among the most evocative and potent of artworks. They invite interaction. "Look into me." "Put something in me." "Take something out of me."

Bowls have tremendous positive associations at both conscious and subconscious levels. The essence of a bowl is that it has both an inner space and an outer space. That's exactly what each human life is like. The inner space needs a certain protection, yet must be open to the world. We need a flow in and out, yet a boundary as well. Bowls symbolize all this and more.

Bowls are about giving and taking, holding and releasing. They are like the breath of life - in and out, in and out. So they are potent symbols of aliveness.

This movement, ongoing change, makes bowls powerful symbols of transformation. A bowl is inherently interactive. You put something in. You take something out. A bowl encourages creative action.

The bowl is the classic symbol of nourishment. "Fill me with what I need to live." It's the symbol of the Pilgrim's journey. "I surrender to my need for help." "I am journeying for the sake of my soul and for the needs of the whole world."

The earth as we see is is like a bowl, with the horizon the rim.

The bowl is like the womb - the source of creativity - the second chakra. For anyone longing for creative power, a bowl is symbolic of what's needed. The second chakra is also about emotional attachment. A bowl can help bring clarity and freedom to relationships.

The shape of a bowl is like the way we swing our arms and make our natural human gestures. We express welcome, embrace, victory. So a bowl is about this sense of expansive gesture - human communication that goes across cultures and beyond words.

Yet at the same time, a bowl is about being centered and whole. To communicate freely and expressively with other people, yet remain whole and centered - ah! Don't we all need that.

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