“The whole work lies in the solution.”
- C.G. Jung
In this two-day workshop contemporary South African painter Cyril Coetzee address the psychological and spiritual impulses at play in artistic creativity, with particular reference to C. G. Jung’s idea of the Mysterium Coniunctionis. The workshops appropriately include an objective reflection, a bird’s eye perspective, on the theme through a close examination of some carefully selected works of art and art history, followed by the inner eye and perspective of the artist himself, through a self-reflective examination of his own work and creative process in his work T’Kama Adamastor.
DAY 1
Coetzee presents a Jungian perspective on the theme, exemplified in the work of many artists, tackling the enigmatic question: ‘ What are the deeper processes implicit in the coming into being of an artwork? From the very first spark of an idea to its fully realised embodiment, an artwork evolves through four successive archetypal stages, described by the ancient alchemists as Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. What do these terms really mean and what do they signify in the creative process?
DAY 2
Coetzee speaks about his own ‘alchemically inspired’ painting: T’Kama -Adamastor, a 28 square metre canvas in the reading room of the William Cullen Library, at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. Intimately sharing how this artwork came into being, Coetzee reveals the story behind the work as well as the circumstantial, historical, and literary influences that played into it.
The workshop concludes with a shared discussion of the theme of ‘inner transformation’ and the alchemical idea of the ‘Mysterium Coniunctionis’ in relation to artistic creativity.
This weekend workshop consists of two webinar lectures followed by interactive Q&A sessions and reflective exercises for those in attendance to reflect on how these ideas and processes might live in them and their own creative endeavours.
In this two-day workshop contemporary South African painter Cyril Coetzee address the psychological and spiritual impulses at play in artistic creativity, with particular reference to C. G. Jung’s idea of the Mysterium Coniunctionis. The workshops appropriately include an objective reflection, a birds eye perspective, on the theme through a close examination of some carefully selected works of art and art history, followed by the inner eye and perspective of the artist himself, through a self-reflective examination of his own work and creative process in his work T’Kama Adamastor.
DAY 1
Coetzee presents a Jungian perspective on the theme, exemplified in the work of many artists, tackling the enigmatic question: ‘ What are the deeper processes implicit in the coming into being of an artwork? From the very first spark of an idea to its fully realised embodiment, an artwork evolves through four successive archetypal stages, described by the ancient alchemists as Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. What do these terms really mean and what do they signify in the creative process?
DAY 2
Coetzee speaks about his own ‘alchemically inspired’ painting: T’Kama -Adamastor, a 28 square metre canvas in the reading room of the William Cullen Library, at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. Intimately sharing how this artwork came into being, Coetzee reveals the story behind the work as well as the circumstantial, historical, and literary influences that played into it.
The workshop concludes with a shared discussion of the theme of ‘inner transformation’ and the alchemical idea of the ‘Mysterium Coniunctionis’ in relation to artistic creativity.
This weekend workshop consists of two webinar lectures followed by interactive Q&A sessions and reflective exercises for those in attendance to reflect on how these ideas and processes might live in them and their own creative endeavours.
“On the contrary I am darkly aware of things lurking in the background of the problem-things too big for our horizons… To deal with the coniunctio in human words is a disconcerting task, since you are forced to express and formulate a process taking place ‘in Mercurio’ and not on the level of human thought and human language, i.e., not within the sphere of discriminating consciousness…
The way is not an upward-going straight line, from earth to heaven or from matter to spirit, but rather a circumambulation of and an approximation to the Centrum.
We are not liberated by leaving something behind but only be fulfilling our tasks as mixta composita i.e., human beings between the opposites.”
Gerhard Wehr, Jung: a biography
“On the contrary I am darkly aware of things lurking in the background of the problem-things too big for our horizons… To deal with the coniunctio in human words is a disconcerting task, since you are forced to express and formulate a process taking place ‘in Mercurio’ and not on the level of human thought and human language, i.e., not within the sphere of discriminating consciousness…
The way is not an upward-going straight line, from earth to heaven or from matter to spirit, but rather a circumambulation of and an approximation to the Centrum.
We are not liberated by leaving something behind but only be fulfilling our tasks as mixta composita i.e., human beings between the opposites.”
Gerhard Wehr, Jung: a biography
Since leaving academic life in 1990, Cyril Coetzee has been a full-time artist and has exhibited his paintings both locally and internationally. His works are included in various public and private collections worldwide, including the Royal Ontario Museum, Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Standard Bank in London and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
In 1996 he was commissioned by the University of the Witwatersrand to paint a 28 square meter canvas for the William Cullen Library, an internationally renowned archive, for the 75th celebrations of the University, which was unveiled by Judge Goldstone in 1999. A large format art book elaborating on the themes, the commissioning and related works was published (T’Kama- Adamastor: Inventions of Africa in a South African Painting, edited by Ivan Vladislavic, University of the Witwatersrand, 2000).
Coetzee has curated or part-curated several exhibitions for the Standard Bank Gallery including: “Water: The Delicate Thread of Life”, 2011, “Exact Imagination: 300 Years of Botanically Inspired Art in South Africa”, 2014 and “Air: Inspiration-Expiration”, 2016.
Awards won include the: Helgaard Steyn Award (2003) and the Vita Art Award (1993).
From 2018 to 2020 Coetzee was the “artist in residence” at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, offering portraits and art sessions to visitors staying at the Hotel. Coetzee has also written a much-lauded monograph on the work of Harold Voigt, “The Poetry of Sight”, published in 2006.
Cyril Coetzee has a Master’s degree in Fine Art, and a BA Honour’s degree in English. To further his research into colour theory he has also studied at the Tobias School of Art in Sussex, and has done further courses at the Goetheanum Painting school in Dornach, Switzerland.
Coetzee has exhibited internationally and was invited to hold solo retrospective exhibitions at the University of South Africa Gallery, Pretoria, and the Getrude Posel Gallery at the University of the Witwatersrand. His portrait of Nelson Mandela was for the international stamp commemorating Mandela’s 90th birthday.
He has a lifelong interest in the study and teaching of Anthroposophy. In this workshop Cyril brings his twin passions of aesthetics and spiritual science to bear in the individuating and initiatory school and practice of art.
Since leaving academic life in 1990, Cyril Coetzee has been a full-time artist and has exhibited his paintings both locally and internationally. His works are included in various public and private collections worldwide, including the Royal Ontario Museum, Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Standard Bank in London and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
In 1996 he was commissioned by the University of the Witwatersrand to paint a 28 square meter canvas for the William Cullen Library, an internationally renowned archive, for the 75th celebrations of the University, which was unveiled by Judge Goldstone in 1999. A large format art book elaborating on the themes, the commissioning and related works was published (T’Kama- Adamastor: Inventions of Africa in a South African Painting, edited by Ivan Vladislavic, University of the Witwatersrand, 2000).
Coetzee has curated or part-curated several exhibitions for the Standard Bank Gallery including: “Water: The Delicate Thread of Life”, 2011, “Exact Imagination: 300 Years of Botanically Inspired Art in South Africa”, 2014 and “Air: Inspiration-Expiration”, 2016.
Awards won include the: Helgaard Steyn Award (2003) and the Vita Art Award (1993).
From 2018 to 2020 Coetzee was the “artist in residence” at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, offering portraits and art sessions to visitors staying at the Hotel. Coetzee has also written a much-lauded monograph on the work of Harold Voigt, “The Poetry of Sight”, published in 2006.
Cyril Coetzee has a Master’s degree in Fine Art, and a BA Honour’s degree in English. To further his research into colour theory he has also studied at the Tobias School of Art in Sussex, and has done further courses at the Goetheanum Painting school in Dornach, Switzerland.
Coetzee has exhibited internationally and was invited to hold solo retrospective exhibitions at the University of South Africa Gallery, Pretoria, and the Getrude Posel Gallery at the University of the Witwatersrand. His portrait of Nelson Mandela was for the international stamp commemorating Mandela’s 90th birthday.
He has a lifelong interest in the study and teaching of Anthroposophy. In this workshop Cyril brings his twin passions of aesthetics and spiritual science to bear in the individuating and initiatory school and practice of art.
