ABSTRACT
Given that the practice of painting concerns, at its most basic level, familiarization with the material and structural properties of the medium and its methods of application, any attempt to fully understand how psyche and imagination are engaged in the activity of painting demands a close reading of the phenomena involved. In this essay I would like to attend to some of these factors, using Jung’s ideas on alchemy and the process of individuation, and Elkins’ ideas on the importance of material substance to the creative process within both alchemy and painting.
