puer aeternus
Medium: Acrylic
I’m creating a series of panels that make up a cohesive story. The story is based on the work of Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung. He describes one of many archetypes called the Puer aeternus, which translates to eternal child in latin. This depicts the Psychology of an adult who’s emotionally at the level of a child. This makes the individual very imaginative but stuck in unrealistic adolescent fantasies, preventing them from materializing their ambitions.
I’ve witnessed two very close family members die of this problem and it wasn’t pretty. They both spent their lives postponing their dreams for ironically adult responsibilities. They were afraid if they brought their most authentic ideas into reality they would fail to meet their own expectations. It was safer to keep these ideas as precious fantasies. However, once they reached their final years these men were forced to reflect, knowing it was too late to shape their lives as they wanted.
I’ve come to realize I also face the same problem. As difficult as it was to acknowledge, It was made apparent how much worse this could be if I don’t confront this issue. This story is the externalization of me processing the Puer aeternus. The collection of Canvases acts as a reminder for myself during times when I inevitably forget to take this issue seriously. It's a demonstration of the worst case scenario and a tool to help me overcome this problem.
