Why The Inner Council? Exploring Identity Archetypes

artbykagsy
1 day ago
3 min read

Woman holding a frosted glass with an enigmatic face reflected. Background is teal, adding a mysterious mood. — Women holding up a mirror to show a reflection of internal identity

Welcome to my world.

I thought I'd start here, because, well - the beginning is always a good place to start. Or so I'm told. So let me start my journey by explaining my concept behind my identity archetypes.

I’ve always been someone who's lived inside their head. I’m analytical. I’m constantly evaluating the internal voices that witter on and on like an over-excited, high school debater without a moderator to intervene. I‘d be constantly listening, observing, asking ‘why’? Why did I think that thought; and then, one day it finally dawned on me: there really is a purpose behind the ‘mindless chatter’.

And that ‘chatter’ is simply there to reinforce who we perceive ourselves to be. It determines our beliefs which, in turns controls our patterns of behaviour. And guess what? That simply equates to: this is how I am going to show up in the world. But here’s the really fascinating part. Those words and pictures of ourselves are just that…a mental construct. And if that construct (the words and pictures we play in our heads) are repeated enough times, we create a set of fictional characters rounds who we ‘think’ we are (because, remember, everything is simply a perception, not a fact) then surely, with the ‘right’ words and vision, we get to step into the shoes of any identity we truly desire?

And for a long time, I didn’t have a way to articulate this way of thinking. Just a constant awareness that, as multi-faceted humans, we all show up as different characters depending on our immediate environment or situation. In other words, we are simply playing multiple actors in a TV show called ‘life’ (in a healthy-ish, way of course).

And, ‘The Inner Council’ grew from that. Personifying our internal identities was my way of making sense of this non-sensical world, we call, ‘home’. Because, let’s face it, it really is difficult to understand the behaviours of others unless we have truly lived in their shoes, which none of us have. However, there are a few universal truths we embody as a collective species.

And here’s one of those truths: we are not one fixed identity, but a collection of different parts, perspectives, and internal voices. Some are supportive, some are protective and some are damn right annoying. But all are valid (though I’d argue about the annoying ones, though!)

And this is where my love of behavioural psychology, words and art collide. It manifests as a creative mishmash of surreal art expressed through mixed media paintings and sculpture. It’s my way of creating a tangible expression of these characters with each one serving a specific purpose.

I want you to look at my art, and with quiet recognition, say, “that’s me”, or “that’s who I desire to be”, even if you can’t fully explain or understand why. Your soul will instantly know. This isn’t about becoming someone new (unless you really want to embody a particular identity, then go for it), it’s about seeing yourself more clearly, without needing to reduce yourself into something so simple that you lose all the nuances (annoying ones as well) that make you, well, YOU.