The Eye Altering, Alters All by Jezebel Pride (Sculpture)

“The eye altering, alters all”
William Blake, The Mental Traveler

We live in a world that bombards us in imagery that we often wish we hadn’t seen, and this imagery changes us. In William Blake’s most misunderstood poem, “The Mental Traveler”, he writes “The eye altering, alters all”. Altering something changes it, in a small but significant way. What I’ve seen has changed me, significantly.

I’ve seen things I can not unsee.

I replay these images over and over in my mind’s eye, and doing so leave me with visceral responses that I can’t control. The specific diagnosis is complex post-traumatic stress disorder or C-PTSD. Unlike post-traumatic stress disorder which develops after a single traumatic event, C-PTSD develops when a person is subjected to a long-term, inescapable sense of lack of safety.

We know that visualization is a powerful tool, but with C-PTSD, it becomes a weapon against the soul. Visualization works within the brain by activating the same neural pathways as actual experience. That damned amygdala inside our brains can’t tell the difference between what my eye sees and what my brain visualizes, and it keeps me in a feedback loop of fear.

I began sculpting eyes one day. I wanted to be able to recreate the most illusive part of the human body; the window to one’s soul. This part of us that takes in the world around us. This part of us that ingests color, light, form and leads us down the winding path of feeling.

I strung this altered eye on a waxed hemp twine with blue aventurine, blue agate and bone.

Blue aventurine links the mind to the heart. It is a healer’s stone that allows the wearer to feel more in control of the peace that lies within the self. It removes anything working to block clear vision.

Agate is a stone of inward journeys. It soothes the soul and transmits a calmness to the wearer. It relinquishes nightmares and induces sweet dreams.