Abstract

The question of how an individual knows themself has resided with humankind throughout the ages. I began a study to pursue this question in a scientific format. I selected a model of research called Heuristics. It comes from the Greek language meaning "to discover." It is particularly suited to investigations on the nature of human existence. ;Transpersonal psychology is an expanded school of psychology developed after Humanistic psychology. It holds to the tenet that there exists a spiritual component to human existence. This was the foundation of this study. ;Art took on increased significance as the research progressed. Art became the natural outcropping of lessons concerning the ways of expressing more fully and freely self knowledge. ;I developed myself as an artist during this research. A phenomena associated with this new discovery about myself was observed. Artists are sometimes inspired by new illuminations about the nature of existence. We hypothesize that this type of information comes from a transpersonal base. From this paradigm the term Transformation Art was coined. It refers to the type of artwork which offers the opportunity for the audience to co-create, to ingest and transform. Joseph Campbell calls this type of artwork, "the function of opening the mystery dimension ... artists who reveal what the heart is ready to recognize." ;I found that place of mystery and responded by creating artwork that derived from the great mythological base which is another term for collective unconscious. I observed artwork today that is about the process of feeding the hearts of those who are ready. When this happens we are contributing to the harmonious relationship with the world around us. A new myth, guide for inner development, is being birthed now. ;Transformation artists are contributing to that myth. I came to my identity as a transformation artist. This research describes the process of self knowledge and how that can be an influence toward becoming an artist