About the Program

The Arts & Consciousness mentorship program at John F. Kennedy University provides a transdisciplinary model for self-directed students to investigate, research and develop specialized techniques, skills and capacities in conjunction with a creative practice or project. Mentorships may include experiential exercises, supervised research, assigned readings, studio visits, critiques and/or individualized training, as determined by the student's artistic and/or professional objectives.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Intensive Focus - The Crater Project with Nance Obanion

 by Elizabeth Addison, MFA Candidate


I began this second quarter of my mentorship with Nance Obanion with a few specific goals. These included manifesting a body of work based upon the crater image, delving into the meaning of the crater, and integrating these ideas into concurrent projects and JFKU classwork. These goals were attained with a bonus of crucial insights, technical breakthroughs and discoveries.
Crater Triptych by Elizabeth Addison


My Day of the Dead installation project was in process as we began the fall session. Crater imagery and ideas were incorporated into this large multi-media project. Nance was helpful and inspirational with her insights and suggestions. This work became the springboard for both written and visual works.

Crater with Horizon by Elizabeth Addison
When Nance introduced automatic writing, dream symbols, and “Progoff”-influenced journaling, the process shifted drastically. I ventured deeper into my personal meanings for the Crater Project and discovered overarching and profound associations. Nance also suggested and loaned a small library of reading materials. These included:

• Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, translated by John Buchanan Brown, 1994, Penguin Books

• The Dream Encyclopedia by James R. Lewis, 1995, Visible Ink Books

• The Universal Dream Key by Patricia Garfield, Ph.D., 2001, Cliff Street Books

• Extraordinary Dreams and How to Work with Them by Stanley Krippner, Fariba Bogzaran, and André Percia de Carvalho, 2002, State University of New York Press

• Mapping Spaces – A Topological Survey of the Work by James Turrell, 1987, Peter Blum Edition New York

• Dreams – Visions of the Night by David Coxhead and Susan Hiller, 1976, Thames and Hudson

• Telling Stories: Book and Paper – The Reader by Nance O'Banion, Spring 2010, California College of the Arts

• Dreams 1900 – 2000: Science, Art, and the Unconscious Mind (Cornell Studies in the History of Psychiatry), by Lynn Gamwell, 1999


Scientific and factual research has played a role as well. I have contacted several space and science agencies for educational purposes and to obtain copyright free images. Visiting Arizona’s Barringer Crater in person may become an integral part of this process!
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