My art as it has developed over these five decades is: Raw Vision, Dream, Symbol, Mystery and Soul Food. Art contains me as a sanctuary and a vehicle, providing me with the opportunity to develop a unique, visual language of my life's experience. I create bold, expressive oil paintings and organic ceramic sculpture. Using the body as metaphor to address the human psyche, my work is rich in content with strong archetypal and biomorphic images.
Usually working in series, each piece captures a still moment in an unfolding progression. Recording a waking dream, I proceed intuitively. My raw approach often presents an unexpected, sometimes visionary result. As I explore seeming dualities: containment/expansion, hidden/visible, rooted/ transcendent, an internal plan reveals itself. Although my initiating impetus is often rooted in the personal, the completed works speak to the universal, reflecting larger concerns with the soul of humanity and our severely impacted natural environment.
My art is a spiritual pursuit, transformative, in the making and in the viewing. It is a portal into a more connected, sensually and spiritually empowered self, offering viewers healing from the loss of connection to soul and to deeper meaning in our lives. These artworks definitely come through me. My art practice and my spiritual practice are interrelated.
Photo: CM Illgen Wailing Pelvis #2. 60 x 48”. oils/canvas 1997
Photo: CM Illgen Trampoline. 60 x 48”. oils/canvas 1995