Veronica uses a variety of symbols in her work, blending different traditions and cultures.  She believes symbols are a profound expression of human nature and within the inner world a symbol can represent some deep intuitive wisdom that eludes direct expression.  Many civilizations recognized the power of symbolism and used them extensively in their art, religion, myths and rituals.  To understand why people tend to be drawn to symbols and develop an interest in them it is necessary to understand the psychological forces at work.  One person to whom we owe much of our knowledge of the importance of symbols is Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychotherapist.  He explains a symbol generates itself from the unconscious as a spontaneous expression of some deep inner power of which we are unaware, nor can not fully encapsulate into words.  As such a symbol becomes in Jung’s words “a perpetual challenge to our thoughts and feelings, that probably explains why a symbolic work is so stimulating, why it grips us so intensely”.  Certain kinds of symbols constitute a universal language because their meanings occur in similar forms.  The symbols that go to make up this language are the natural expression of inner psychological forces.  Instead of waiting for the unconscious, existing symbols can be used as a focus for meditation eg. In Veronica’s sculptures where she uses interlacing, knotwork on the celtic cross and provides a pathway into the unconscious.

Aisling Gheal | Art & Sculpture | Traditional | Hindu Temple | Wall Sconces