Cottonwood AZ (January 15, 2014) – Get ready for Valentine’s day! On February 1st, 1PM, in Studio B at Old Town Center for the Arts, mask maker and performance artist, Pash Galbavy invites participants to a dynamic and thought provoking, experimental exploration of romantic love archetypes.
“The last two archetype exploration events were well received,” Pash said. “One participant suggested I offer a Valentine’s version, so here we go!” Pash will focus on unconventional aspects of Love as she improvises with a number of her masks in an effort to deepen understanding of the archetypal characters that they represent. Afterwards, participants will be invited to interact and share their experience of the exploration.
Pash has made masks of archetypes and worked and performed with them for over 17 years. She describes archetypes as psychological patterns derived from life roles–like Mother, Child, or Artist–or universal events, situations or emotions–like Death or Compassion. They are personalized in each person’s psyche and make up the foundation of personality, motivation, feelings and beliefs.
“Rather than ‘masking’ or hiding something, for me the act of putting on a mask is actually an unmasking,” Pash said. For her, the masks she makes take on a life of their own and unveil aspects of the self and collective individual and social conscious. “ Even if the stories I tell related to a mask are personal, invariably the archetypes have a universal resonance.”
At the Archetypal Explorations in October and November, Pash worked with archetypes including Inertia, Despair, Courage, and Compassion. Afterwards, one participant Julie L’esperance, Psy.D., who is the Clinical Director at Alternative to Meds Center in Sedona, invited Pash to present a private Exploration. “Pash offered a brilliant, evocative performance at our addiction treatment center. She is a gifted healer through her art and creative ability to share who she is to help others see themselves. We look forward to her return.”
Pash is also an expressive artist, contact improvisational dancer, author, and artists’ model. She has an MA in Communication Studies. She is the recipient of numerous artist grants including several from the Arizona Commission of the Arts and two from the City of Sedona–including one for community mask making. She has performed at many festivals, and public and private events in the US and Australia.
For over a decade, Pash and her husband, Marty Landa, have also worked with and studied the Person-Centered Approach in groups. The Person-Centered Approach was initially defined by Carl Rogers–who is considered by many to be the father of humanistic psychology–as a way of being that cultivates qualities of being genuine, empathic, and having positive regard for one’s self and others. As part of the Exploration of Archetypes, Pash and Marty will use the Person-Centered Approach as a foundation, to facilitate inviting participants to interact and share their thoughts, reactions, and reflections.
If you are interested in witnessing and optionally participating in a process of more deeply exploring archetypes and the way they inform our lives and the world, then you will want be a part of this unique offering on February 1st, 1PM, in Studio B at Old Town Center for the Arts, located at 5th St and Main in Cottonwood. Reservations recommended as seating is limited. For more information, contact 284-4021 or see www.unmaskit.com.
