What would the world be like without shame? When I learned that we came close to losing Carlos Santana, the musician, to suicide because of his unresolved shame of being molested as a child, I took note of his voyage to healing. His wife of over 30 years divorced him saying that Carlos seemed to be holding back on divulging his whole self. His friends saw his emotional dive and found therapists for him. It was a life and death situation. With witness, he became whole again and shared his story with the world.

The journey into understanding my own shame began with a night time dream I had a few years ago. (I have been using dream work to inform my waking life since my teens.) I dreamed of a little 5-year-old girl eagerly flashing her eyelids at me. Each lid had been pierced with a nail. Sure got my attention! This is one very disturbing image that I could not ignore. With the help of dream group, a talk therapist and a hypnotherapist, I got in touch with something that started for me at an early age, shame of my own sexuality. The healing has been gradual and noticeable.

Nails? Shame? Shame helped me be accepted as a child and I carried these invisible nails into adulthood without noticing their devitalizing property. Through witness and sharing, I too have been making progress on becoming more whole, more alive. Creating art work connected to shame and the possible healing from it continues to inform the direction of my artwork.

I hope to spark and lay the foundation for a live multimedia multi-artist non-virtual installation exhibit that expresses the many paths, stories, and images of Healing from Shame. On this website, my current work is as follows:

First gallery and first chronolgically came FACES OF SHAME, with nails piercing their eyelids, followed by faces free of their sharp adornment that are now healed of shame.

Next gallery  NAMES AND FACES OF SHAME.

The 3rd gallery DUALITIES OF SHAME from a chart by David R. Hawkins MD PhD to help understand "The Dualities of Shame."

The 4th gallery HEALING FROM SHAME has more wall sculpture, not specific to the previously named galleries.

The last two galleries contain older work, the porcelain "canvases" and mobiles and freestanding sculpture previously created.

I would really enjoy meeting you and sharing my work. To schedule a visit to Studio 120 and Gallery at the Tannery Art Center, please contact the artist directly by email at marenhurn@gmail.com.

In the meantime, enjoy this online gallery experience.