Mapping Home

Activity:

Delve into the freedom of drawing blind and investigate the aspects that pull you towards an image

 

Materials:

• Drawing tool of your choice ( pen, pencil, crayon, etc.)

• Paper (if you don't have a big piece, you can get a bunch of small pieces and tape them together)

 

Process:

Exercise #1  within thirty seconds write down as many personal attributes of strength you possess. Especially those attributes that we all tend to not express to the outside world.

 

Repeat this process three times and try to be true to the 30-second time frame. This will help you to not overthink your attributes of strength. Oftentimes we tend to negate our personal strengths and because it contradicts a negative personal narrative that we have internalized at some point in our lives.  

 

Exercise #2 examine the list of attributes that were generated in the first exercise and think about where they are located within your body. For example, if one of your strongest attributes would be located around where your eyes are, where your heart is or is it located in your hands? Not only think about the bodily location of your strongest attributes but also think about how to articulate them using line, shape, and color.  Assign each of your strongest attributes; a home in your body,  a color, a line, and or a shape that feels correct to you. 

 

Exercise #3 grab a sheet of paper larger enough to trace your body on. If you don’t have access to a single sheet of paper that large you can tape several sheets of paper together. Lie down on the sheet of paper and begin to trace an outline of your body. If there are two or more people then have one person lie down while the other outlines them. If you are by yourself just be careful and have fun with the challenge of drawing around yourself. 

After you’ve finished with the outline, you can begin to draw your strength attributes into the outline. Take your time, move through this process slowly. If you come to a point where a straight attribute doesn’t feel quite right then you have all the permission in the world to change its home within the outline. 

 

Finally when everything feels finished take a pair of scissors and cut out the outline and carefully tape it to a wall. Stand in front of the outline and say, quietly or out loud, yell it if you have the desire to do so, all of your strongest attributes, and where they are located within your body. 

 

The outline is now a map of where aspects of our highest self are located within our own bodies. We all need maps to find our way back home and this is a great way to make one for ourselves. 

 

Repeat the exercise or revisit your drawing as much as you wish.

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About The Artist:

Christopher Burch is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in San Francisco CA. Born and raised in St. Louis MO, He received the Painting Fellowship for his graduate studies at the San Francisco Art Institute (MFA 2008) and is a graduate of Columbia College with a BFA in 2002. Burch’s works report from the intersections of re-invention, mythology, folklore, and history.

Instagram: @goya_goon