Natalija Stefanović

Project title: The Self-Portrait, the Archetype and the Journey Towards Individuation: a Pilot Study

Natalija Stefanović is an emerging art therapist and multidisciplinary artist. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Stefanovic's early experiences as an immigrant continue to shape her perspective. Stefanović is a trained Chinese Medicine practitioner, and her clinic specialised in treating stress and anxiety. Stefanović also studied pottery for over a decade under esteemed ceramicists. Her current art therapy practice combines her eclectic skills, employing visual art interventions as a path to self-understanding and balance.

Stefanović's work explores themes of self-discovery, vulnerability, and inner wisdom. She draws inspiration from psychology, world myths, and her strange cats. Stefanović works intuitively, letting the materials guide the process to capture an authentic essence in each piece. In Over The Whelm, she exhibits paintings created during her MMH in Art Therapy degree, exploring self-discovery and inner wisdom. She hopes her images allow viewers to connect with their own inner truths.

This body of work emerged while Stefanović was writing her thesis. Her work explores using self-portraiture and Jung's archetypes to foster self-knowledge through art therapy. Each piece is a self-portrait in the form of Stefanović's weakest and strongest archetypes; The Jester, The Sage, The Optimist, The Caregiver, The Lover and The Creator. The works speak to the masks we wear and the innermost parts of ourselves that often lay obscured. Through researching archetypes, Stefanović has sought to understand her multi-dimensional nature. Making these portraits has required Stefanović to sit with uncomfortable realities and to give form to intangible dreams.

While created as a personal act of revelation, it is Stefanović s hope these images speak to universal experiences. To be human is to be multifaceted, to endure overwhelm and to harbour wisdom, to lose our way and find it again. May we recognise and lean upon the strengths of the archetypes we all embody and have within.