Betsy Bower: Dreams

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ~c.J. Jung

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Betsy Bower is a native Casper sculptress-welder. She builds functional and nonfunctional ornamental ironworks, and teaches these skills to others. She co-founded Casper Pride Weekend, and also helped organize events with Out in Wyoming. She recently moved to Denver to continue her artistic journey and to surround herself with a much larger creative community.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Have dreams ever changed the course of your life?
What type of characters show up in your dreams?
What would your dream look like if it was made into art?

FROM THE ARTIST

Art is a tangible form of self-expression. Some say art should move people, make them feel something, or tell a story. I believe some art leads me and I’m simply the vessel giving it form. The art has a life of its own. It takes me on the journey.

A Taoist philosophy suggests to not focus on an end goal because being present in the moment is what really matters. That is what I’ve learned about art: the process is as important as the result. And it is the process that can be healing and transformative. My life would be void of meaning if I couldn’t make art.

In this body of work, I let my nighttime dreams guide this show. Carl Jung invented a method called active imagination where you extract a symbol from a dream and create something with it. In my case, sculpture is a way of drawing the line of communication between my waking mind and the deep unconscious. This process can unlock answers, bring about self awareness and help me to transform and evolve.

If you would like to discover more or contact the artists please visit: betsybower.com