11

The Oscillation of Support and Distress

Two unresolved forms are unified by their surrounding matrix. However, the tone of their relationship changes, depending upon which way the drawing is displayed. When viewed from one angle, one form uplifts the other; while from another direction, the forms elicit a feeling of foreboding. This shift in mood of a drawing is unusual. Changing the orientation of a piece often reveals a different facet of the work, but typically the core feeling remains.

Healing requires a comfort and fluency in embracing both support and distress. This drawing suggests alternating between the two, instead of favoring one and negating the other. (Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, coined the term “pendulation” to describe this natural healing ability to move between the contraction of trauma and the expansion of resources of strength.)