Irene Wellm is drawn to the underworld journey, and to explore dark and ambiguous narratives in her art. Although our society gives the positive and bright aspects far more emphasis and attention, the darker journeys undeniably provide an invaluable source of riches, and these are expressed dramatically in her work. The ancients knew it as the Underworld, where the spirits dwelt. Today it is the i
nner, or psychological realm, where the creative activity is still uncanny and mysterious. The premise of the framework surrounding her art is to recognize religious and mythological concepts as symbolic, and interpret them psychologically. In doing so, it may indicate a subjective state, a psychological attitude, rather than an external/physiological one. In this vein, myth, like fairy tales, is understood as representing stages of consciousness, or psychological development. Within this framework, Wellm creates multi-layered narratives about recovering the feminine principle in a self-reflective way.
