Tissue Paper Collage Technique Karen Stefano, MA LPC

A Way of Accessing the self through creative exploration

Hello everyone, and thank you for coming to hear my presentation on the Tissue Paper Collage Technique. I would like to thank the Round Table Associates and Tina Smith for organizing this meeting and creating educational opportunities for individuals to come together to inquire into our human quest for meaning, understanding, and truth along term preoccupation of women and men for thousands of years and one which CG Jung addressed in a most profound way. This talk is not a theoretical one, it will describe the tissue paper collage technique in as close to a hands on way as possible, It would be my wish to be able to give you a direct experience of it, this is not possible in this context.

This way of working was developed by Jungian analyst Dr. Edith Wallace who recently died on April 29, 2004. How many of you have met or worked with doctor Wallace? She deeply touched the lives of many people She was a remarkable woman, who lived a long and creative life. She always stressed that one of her life long strivings was to access truth and know her self. I once filmed her for a conference talk she was giving at a conference I was organizing called Methods of the Soul, her talk was To Think or Not to Think that Is the Question (in regards to soul), in her talk she said you know, when I was applying for my analytic training I was asked do you know your self? Of course I said yes, now at 93 I am realizing that I am just beginning to know my self. That reflection had a strong impact on me at 50, and caused me to remember that the search for the self and wholeness is a life long continual search, possibly never ending....

Edith was an accomplished painter and in the end of her life wrote profound poetry. I will read you one of her last poems at the end of this presentation. During her last few years of life she referred to her collages as her teacher. And worked with the images intensely to lead her deeper into the unknown, inner world and healing space of the female shaman. She has written two books the Queen's Quest, and How It All Began, and How It All Continued, No End. She was also blessed to have three great teachers, CG Jung, JG Bennett and the Bawa Muyhaideen.

Edith Wallace and Karen Stefano at Tesuque, 2000

click here for video link to Karen's Collage Show

I have worked with Edith for over 20 years and was with her in her last days in New Mexico. We would hold two playshops a year at the Sangre de Cristo Monastery in Santa Fe New Mexico. I am a psychotherapist, in private practice, a painter and artist, one of the founders of the DuVersity, an educational non profit devoted to finding bridges between the world of psychology and world of spirituality. If interested you can check out our website, I have some materials on our organization with me. My time with Edith has been varied, from patient, to student and to apprentice of sorts. She has been a role model for me and an active influence in my life from age 29 to 53, when she passed this year.

And here is another quote from CG Jung's The Tavistock Lectures that addresses the healing nature of images:

"'.The suggestive influence of the picture reacts on the psychological system of the patient and induces the same effect which he put into the picture. That is the reason for idols, for the magic use of sacred images, of icons. They cast their magic into our system and put us right, provided we put our selves into them. If you put your self into an Icon, the icon will speak to you. Take the lamaic mandala which has a Buddha in the center, or a Shiva, and, to the extent that you can put yourself into it, it answers and comes into you. It has a magic effect.' ¹

I think the best way to give you a sense of the tissue paper collage method or playshop format is describe each aspect with some photos, film footage and images of collages."

¹ Jung, C.G. The Tavistock Lectures. Analytical Psychology: It's theory and practice. Collected Works, Vol. 18. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976.

Stone Inscription from Cairn de Gavrinis 5500 BCE

This method or playshop format arose out of Dr. Wallace's many years work as a Jungian analyst and particularly CG Jung's technique of an active imagination. And here I will read you a quote from her article Healing through the Visual Arts in the book Approaches to Art Therapy edited by J.A. Rubin about active imagination:

'I have chosen one method - that of active imagination - which deals with images and is based on the fact that we must trust such images, which arise from the depth of the psyche. This method presupposes that truth resides in the unconscious-not only on a personal, ego level, but as a profound historical truth - and is manifested in archetypal images arising from the collective unconscious. The central archetype which Jung called the 'Self' is of special importance as a healing factor. It has a regulating, stabilizing function, compensating for any imbalance that might arise. It could also be called one's inner wisdom and guide; I like to call it the 'creative source.'...'Since the image precedes the word, we can through images(as well as through body movement) evoke unknown aspects of the psyche and bring them to the light of consciousness; this results in understanding and often healing. For healing to take place, however, we must take the consequences of what we have understood and bring our understanding into the reality of lived life.' <sup>1

1</sup> Wallace, E. Healing Through the Visual Arts. In J.A. Rubin (Ed.), Approaches to Art Therapy. Brunner/Mazel, 1987.

The method as used by Dr. Wallace has five main elements, which consist of:

• Writing your story of your life in the form of a myth or fairy tale
• Making collages
• Viewing collages - in private while alone and in the group
• Movement/and performing a dance to a collage you do not understand
• Meditation

In most cases the work is done in groups of around 12 -20 individuals. There is no experience required only the desire to play, explore and be open to what will come through to you during the process. And than once you have seen, heard or sensed an insight then you integrate it into your being and life.   One of the prerequisites for participation in the playshop is that you write your life story in the form of a myth or fairy tale before you come to the playshop. This is important preparation to set the stage for what is to unfold. It is a beginning of the dialogue between inner/outer. This does not always happen, some participants wait until they arrive to write their stories. I have personally written many stories and the stories do change as one journeys through life. Question why myth or fairy tale???? Both forms offer the writer a way to incorporate the events of there life into a story form which is not threatening, gives distance to look in a different way and discover something that was not known before. Both forms take the writer out of linear time, are non rational and universal in nature The playshops are usually residential, so we use the time in the evenings for each participant to read her/his story to the group. The process of reading these stories to the group really deepens the empathy levels we have for one another individually and helps to create group coherence. I have collected these stories for many years and it never ceases to amaze me at the depth, meaning and insight that comes from these tales   I am sorry we do not have time for me to read you a story written or show film footage.

Materials



Making Collages

I want to start describing making collages with a quote from Jung, I am not sure of the reference but it is very relevant. Dr. Wallace used to refer to these events as workshops. At some point it became clear to her that we needed to change the name to playshops.

"...without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.' CG Jung   The materials used consist of 30 colors of tissue paper, sheets of white tag board cut into 11x14 pieces, liquid medium gloss varnish, and 1" paintbrushes.

Methods - click here for the video link to Making Collages



The participants are asked to choice colors that attract their attention, whatever they feel drawn to. Than you find a place to work, mix up your varnish and begin to tear and paste your tissue on to the tag board.   Instructions given are simple do not think about what you are doing, in the sense of planning, do not use known forms, no tools such as scissors, do not interpret what you are producing, work in silence, just allow what ever arises to appear spontaneously... just play as if you were child. Even though participants are advised not to think there can be attention and self-observation.  In any one making session, you can make from 1-20 collages. Each of them is labeled on the back with the makers name date, number (to record the sequence) and arrow to indicate the direction they were made in.

Here I will quote from Dr. Wallace again from her article Healing Through the Visual Arts:...' I had my first experience with art therapy when I used active imagination in a most unorthodox way. I started work with a group and invited members to use translucent-colored tissue paper for collaging. This medium seemed helpful for the purpose of opening up to contexts from the unconscious. Working with tissue paper, glue, and brush brought forth freer shapes, which seemed to emerge from a greater depth of the psyche: it acted as an opener and channel builder. Eventually, shapes would emerge that had great impact and meaning. But this could happen only if the work was done playfully, unselfconsciously, as a child would do it, without preconceived ideas or notions, without manipulation. It meant just very seriously enjoying the process of playing while enjoying the colors, sometimes taking pleasure in what emerged, sometimes being surprised, pleasantly or unpleasantly, but always eventually finding meaning in what emerged. In addition, it set the stage for allowing what Ehrenzweig (1965) has called "the unconscious form-sense" to become manifest.

'Images come in a series. Often a story unfolds that wants to be written down. Discoveries happen sometimes only after the story. However, something has been touched, the person is moved to write a story after having seen the images - the meaning is there. Most of the time, the person has been touched deeply enough to bring about transformation. It is exciting and absorbing work, often continued for years. The absorption is reminiscent of both child and artist. This is also valuable work at those moments of life when nothing seems to want to move, outwardly or inwardly, when one is struck. One of the values of this work consists in opening new channels, in furthering process. The doing is the first step, the first part of the dialogue. The first injunction: forget all you know, all preconceived ideas, all known forms or images that have appeared before. PLAY!' <sup>1

1</sup> Wallace, E. Healing Through the Visual Arts. In J.A. Rubin (Ed.) Approaches to Art Therapy. Brunner/Mazel, 1987

Making. Viewing, Showing



Viewing

Once your collages have dried, the next step is to sit with them and see what they have to say. This is done first privately and than in a group. Privately each person takes her collages usually to her room (or a quiet space) and puts them on display in order of day done and number sequence. The suggestions are to spend time with your collages, see what emerges from them, associations with their colors and forms, sequential patterns, etc, Have a dialogue with them, what do they say to you. What feeling are aroused, what sensations, and thoughts. Reflect on your feelings when doing them and when looking at them. See if you associate to emergent issues, problems, Enter into the collages see what happens. Allow them to talk to you and listen to their meaning. Reflect on amplifications that come to mind. Make notes on the above. If you feel stuck try giving each one a name. I always go to sleep with them on display and upon waking immediately look at them for a few minutes, hoping for insight and new inspiration. It is suggested that you not discuss your work with others until you process its meaning first on your own. We are highly suggestible to other people's projections and it is best to allow the magic of the images to do their work before you engage with input from others.

Showing

At certain points during the playshop we stop and look together as a group. Either Dr. Wallace or myself always facilitate this. Taking turns each person shows their collages or series of them, and speaks about them to the group. Etiquette is followed: The individual says what she/he wants to say without any comment from other members of the group. If others comment, their words -e.g. identifying an image -will 'fix' that image in the mind of the person who made the collage and this cannot be reversed. The facilitator can carefully evoke further meaning from the individual by asking questions but should not impose her own interpretation. The individual is encouraged to reflect on emergent meanings in relation to self, family, culture, from personal to archetypal significance. Once the person showing has finished speaking then other members of the group can comment on what they see (this is then material for them as much as it is for the individual concerned) it is also possible for the group to reflect on any shared meanings and insights. The process of viewing and finding meaning continues throughout the period available, and even after the playshop ends and participants return home.

Edith showing & reading her story - Click here for the video link

As Dr. Wallace points out, '.the liberating effect is apparent in every workshop; however, it happens only when there is a true letting go. Those who cling to the known cannot reach it, and there are always some who cling ardently because the other mode has been their security. The method is simple, but there are pitfalls. The ego is ever ready to step in and take over, leading back to conditioned responses rather than spontaneous emergence of the contents of the unconscious... The creative process requires that we not be in control, but that we be confronted with laws, which are unknown and possibly unknowable to us. Such an openness must also determine how we look at what we have produced, and how we look into and than verbalize what we see, "Art cannot be reasoned out, it must be seen into" (Eliot, 1959, p.131.)' <sup>1

1</sup> Wallace, E. Healing Through the Visual Arts. In J.A. Rubin (Ed.) Approaches to Art Therapy. Brunner/Mazel, 1987

Dance space

Movements/ Performing a dance

There are three aspects to use of movement on the playshop. Firstly, each morning we have a stretching/yoga session to limber up before the morning meditation.   Each day we have a movement's session in hopes of deepening the level of insight arising from the work with in the playshop. The session lasts one hour. These sessions are also designed to enable participants to feel grounded in their bodies, to become familiar with different types of movement, and to discover their relationship to feelings. I think this quote from Joan Chodorow's article 'The Body as Symbol: Dance/Movement in Analysis', gives a wonderful insight into the significance of movement as a related expressive modality.  

'In movement, the unconscious seems to manifest in two recognizable ways: in images and in bodily felt sensations. Some movers experience the unconscious predominantly through a stream of inner visual images. Others may experience it primarily through the body.The initial preference seems related to typology. But the movement process tends to develop an increasingly balanced relationship to both realms.
As we learn to listen and respond, our attention usually fluctuates back and forth. Each realm may constellate and enrich the other.' ¹

¹ Chodorow, J. http://www.cgjungpage.org/content/view/88/28

Dancing to the collages - click here for video link

Finally, each participant is asked to pick one collage that puzzles him or her and perform a dance using music to the collage. This is done on the last evening after collaging is finished. This aspect works well for some people and not at all for others. You can use props and music.

Its greatest value is for those who do not find themselves able to verbalize what they feel from the collages they make. It is important to consider that some collages cannot be expressed in terms of images or words. When dancing to or from the collage dancers are encouraged to look at the lines in the collage and reflect them in gestures and action.

Meditation



Every morning during the playshop we have a led meditation, which begins with a body, centered relaxation. The meditation practiced is a form of circulation of the light a meditation exercise that Dr. Wallace learned from JG Bennett and adapted for the playshop adding her own insights. There is also a silent unled vipassana style meditation in the evening before bedtime to wind down and empty out the mind after the reading of stories.

Some Final thoughts

Besides the use of tissue paper collage in the playshop format lasting 3 to 5 days, I have used it with groups meeting for 4 hours twice monthly, and also in my psychotherapeutic practice with clients. 'Currently it is being used in the integrative methodology of 'psyche education' (developed by DuVersity) as one of the seven methods. The same principles of generating material, reflecting, associating, dialoguing, and exploring meaning between individual and group are embodied in all seven methods, but in contrasting media(see parallel paper on Psyche Education).'¹ 'For most people the method is a developing process that takes time to assimilate and respond to. It serves to provide a 'language' for elements that may not have been accessible before. Initially, 'masculine' analytical people may find the method difficult to deal with but most can rapidly find it doable.

Because of the very medium of expression, there are strong associations with early preverbal and early childhood experiences...This liberate a childlike feeling and innocence and Dr. Wallace herself insists on calling the programs playshops as opposed to workshops. ¹ Stefano, K. and Anthony Blake. Tissue Paper Collage-A Method of Active Imagination Developed by Dr. Edith Wallace. Paper for IAGP Conference, August 2003

The nature of the process is creative. Many of the collages produced by people who have had no artistic practice before - are of great beauty. The sheer experience of color and form is itself therapeutic. The experience of allowing meaning to emerge and show itself is the very core of active imagination.  

People can feel very supported in this work. First of all, it is not possible to make a mistake! Secondly, the group process is constructed so as to enhance empathy and the sharing of meaning-the dialogue between the members of the group is most important.  

The process and content of the tissue paper collage method is akin to dreaming and the processing of dream experience through free association and amplification and just as you would not interpret a dream you would not interpret a collage.' ¹ 

I have found that this method encourages healing through deepening understanding, discovery of new self-knowledge, acts as a bridge between conscious and unconscious material, and activates growth and transformation in a very safe and non-threatening way.   'There is a need to trust the self regulating function of the psyche and what Jung calls the 'self' which Dr. Wallace refers to as the 'creative process' or the 'inner guide.' ¹

End of Playshop