I: Monsters and Muses

— The First Weeks of a Piano Album Project

In "The Artist's Journey" by Steven Pressfield, we get a poetic view of the artistic creation process as a channel between different conscious states. That higher sensorial perception is described by Pressfield as the "Muse work", making an allegory to the "Odyssey", classic Greek literature by Homer. The Muse is described as "Zeus daughter" or "Divine Poesy". A mystical archetype of beauty, inspiration and creation.

According to Carl Jung's model of the human psyche, "archetypes" are forces from the collective unconscious which affect and structure our individual perception of the self/identity.

In the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by the Scottish author Robert Luis Stevenson, we find the concept of two opposing forces within one person: a doctor and a monster. The doctor, an intellectual able to heal, and a monster, a beast inclined to destroy. Extremes coexisting within the same body, or mind?

During the first days of commitment to a piano album as part of the concluding work of my Music BA degree, I dived into a deep sea of muses and monsters. A rollercoaster of beauty, inspirations, and devastating fears. An overwhelming feeling of having something (very) powerful in my hands in favour of me and against me. At once.

I started my music degree still addressing a Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) diagnosis and its symptoms; still colliding with ferocious voices inside my head, screaming in my ears. Most of the days, feeling in a battle with me, against me, rescuing me.

Without a doubt, I understood that my biggest challenge in this project is taming myself to its singularity and complexity. Between Muses and Monsters, Love and Rage. A self-labour to go through.