The development of ‘the onion’ workshop evolved from my desire to share in practice the most important principle that has guided my own artistic and living process:
Listening to Intuition.
The challenge with what seems like a very vague term was to try to translate and articulate into practical exercises, the ways intuition has been guiding my creative processes. Meaning, to understand how It works as much as possible so that it can become a conscious tool in the artistic making. To do that I had to zoom into my experience, fragment and analyze its parts and invent ways to communicate it to others.
Ιntuition is defined as ‘the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning’. Another word for it is ‘inspiration’ which in its literal meaning is to be in spirit, connected to one’s spiritual body. ‘Genious’ is also a relevant term, as it comes from the Latin word of the same name, meaning "guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth". Socrates the ancient greek philosopher was known to listen to the ‘daimonion’ or internal voice with the implication from the writings about him that he was guided by something he regarded as divine or semi-divine.
The way I understand intuition in the artistic process is that one trusts that all information and knowledge are already existing on an energetic level, so the artistic process is about grounding it to a conscious level, to a form. Tο attract and host such knowledge it is necessary to become in tune with the place inside the body that has similar energy. It is remembering the relation all living creatures have with the universal knowing or the divine creativity which is the wisdom where we came from and where we will return.
Art making is the journey of discovering, articulating, downloading, and channeling the necessary information needed each time to the physical body of the creator/artist, who will then translate it/transform it into form. This is not to say that intuition alone is the only element needed for the making of a good work of art or an interesting creative process. Methodologies, theories, and practices are essential and necessary tools for such a process. Nevertheless what guides one to choose the kinds of tools to be used is very much guided by ‘what feels right’.
The key for this to happen is that there needs to be room for the welcoming of such knowledge in the physical body and therefore the body must remain in a state of presence, openness, and trust. Intuition then works as a guide to reveal to the artist which kinds of pathways to choose so that they get the knowledge and information needed each time.
In order to make room inside one’s body for divine creativity to ground itself, one needs to connect to the inner creator, which is the place/state from where we can connect to source. Unfortunately the inner creator is usually hidden or scared and so it is often difficult for any likewise energy that comes from all kinds of directions/dimensions to resonate with it and help it grow. To connect to the inner creator it is essential to become present and honor with full attention the state of beingness by being present with no expectations for any kind of instant artistic results. To do that, all the unnecessary noise which usually blocks this process has to be released. Meaning to let go and give up on beliefs, ideas, and manners that either belongs to the past or the future and are not relevant to the present process.
Specifically what stops this process is the fact that many of us feel we don’t know enough and therefore enter the process with insecurity. This creates a self-sabotage feeling that can not possibly allow one to be open to new information. Then as in everything in life ‘the law of attraction’ is at work. Meaning whatever the state of the artist is, then that will be the kind of energy they will attract. Ιnsecurity will bring more insecurity, fear will bring more fear, trusting will bring deeper trust, presence will bring prolonged presence, tuning into essence will lead to diving into essence. So the power of free will, consciously directed, is key here so that one becomes present enough to reach the receptive mode.
When one tunes in and starts connecting and receiving, it is the ultimate feeling of peace where the most precious element common to all living beings becomes vibrant: the soul. It is a feeling like coming home, like being very comfortable, being in joy, being involved and interested, a state where creative thoughts and ideas flow, connections are made between elements and references, energies and actions, theories and practice, in a never-ending abundance of inspiration.