Annie Gusman

Images of the Imagination

		Working as a freelance illustrator since 1975, I have created images for magazines, advertising and children’s books. In 1986 I began a series of paintings of a personal nature, images drawn from a mixture of dreams, childhood experiences, and spiritual and subconscious icons. These pictures opened a door for me, a means by which I could begin to understand my conscious experiences. They also pointed toward a path I would follow through a time of deep personal loss. The paintings presented here relate in some manner to the suicide of my mother in 1987. These pictures were not created with a specific result in mind; the process of their creation is more like		that of a dream, where shapes, colors and lines eventually resolve into recognizable images. Their creation has been instrumental in my healing, and have formed a kind of road map, guiding me on a journey through grief and anger toward acceptance and peace. By presenting these paintings, I hope to share my experience of the renewal of life through the medicine of creation. These images are dedicated to the memory of Leah Stein Gusman, 1926-1987. Annie Gusman Joly
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