Sedona AZ (November 8, 2013) – On November 17th, 4PM, at Sandra Beck Studio, mask maker and performance artist, Pash Galbavy invites participants to another dynamic and thought provoking, exploration of archetypes.
As part of this offering, Pash will improvise 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.
At the October debut, Pash worked with the archetypes of Inertia, Courage, and the Actualizer. One participant Julie L’esperance, Psy.D., who works as the Clinical Director at Alternative to Meds Center in Sedona, described the event as an “emotionally moving expression of the unconscious.” Another participant, Carisa Authier, Psy.D., who has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, said: “It helped me get in touch with some feelings within me that I hadn’t named yet. The sharing afterward was also wonderful.” At the end, participants requested that Pash offer the presentation again.
“I don’t know what masks I’ll work with this time,” Pash said. “I tend to explore archetypes that are relevant to issues on my mind or in the world on the day. I like working spontaneously, improvisationally. That keeps it real.”
Pash has made masks of archetypes and worked and performed with them for over 15 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.”
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.
In May, for the second year in a row, she was invited to don a hummingbird mask and bring to life the Hummingbird Spirit at the Sedona Hummingbird Festival. “I love doing some research, like on the traditional animal medicine of the hummingbird. Then trying to embody what it represents. In the hummingbird example, qualities of joy, beauty, and love. I also explore the shadow side. Some of my “darker” masks include the Saboteur, Addict, and Critic. I believe that understanding all the parts gives them less power to control our lives unconsciously.”
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 one of the fathers 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 invite 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 November 17th, 4PM, at Sandra Beck Studio, 50 Stutz Bearcat Rd, Sedona. Reservations recommended as seating is limited. For more information, contact 284-4021 or see www.unmaskit.com.
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