THE RED BOOK

In January 2020, the Women’s Salon Los Angeles (WSLA) began a project inspired by the tenth anniversary of the publication of Carl Jung’s The Red Book. By working with images from our dreams, we wanted to explore our unconscious. To work on this project, we began to meet once a month. But soon after, the COVID- 19 pandemic and subsequent lock-down forced us to gather virtually. 

As a way to cope with the stress and anxiety that these events have caused, we shifted to meeting twice a month. Three members present a dream during each session, and based on Jungian theory, we discuss and activate these images. After the presentation, they work with the dream images to create an artwork. The resulting pieces will be assembled in a book. Salón México, our sister collective based in Mexico City, is participating and has also established bi-monthly meetings to discuss their dream images. 

The virtual turn that the project took allowed for women from LA to join in the Mexican group’s discussions and vice versa. Also, artists who live in different countries are now able to participate. The WSLA meetings include women based in Japan and Guatemala, and in Salón Mexico, artists from Paris and London.  We expect to have the book completed by December 2020.