OUR MULTIPLICITY
By Coral Hull
The One Tree (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1993)
Adelia turns into herself beneath a flame tree, indicative of death and rebirth within the central psyche. Selves died and were reborn through the tree of life. The camp fire represents The Essence and the lizard spirits floating out of it are the many streams of developing consciousness created by The Essence or The Soul Self.
Myrail (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
The two sleepers are the original selves - male and female. Their names are Daniel and Eve. Both are 'otherkin'. While Eve was locked away within another reality (the unconscious), Daniel remained conscious in the physical earth world. This occured because it was unsafe to be a female while growing up. This is a drawing of Eve put to sleep inside the power of the tree deep inside The Whispering Forest - the inner dialoguing central psyche.
Monster's Throat (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1985)
Daniel is a channeller, connected to the central psyche by an umbilical cord or awareness. He holds a large part of the central psyche's emotional pain. The unconscious looms up and threatens to overwhelm him at any moment. He hangs onto it, but it is bigger than him. Daniel's fear is the result of a lack of awareness.
Empty World (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
Bethany Star in a psychic landscape, with several streams of consciousness (selves) in the distance. The tree of life that she remains connected to by an umbilical cord of awareness is alive, but in Star's world it is nurtured by the moon. Star is an android warrior who is loyal to The Essence, the system and to Witt (a male android).
Haunted Room (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
We were instructed to paint some still lifes at The South Australian College of Advanced Education. This interpretation took the interest of the art lecturer. It was not like what other students had created. Our objects were ghostly and floating. They existed in a haunted room within the haunted mansion of the central psyche.
Four Trees (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Four trees represent the four streams of consciousness that were inner dialoguing within the central psyche.
Daydream (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Celeste is a mermaid/ water nymph. We achieved co-consciousness with her during August, 2004. Note the clawed hand representing damage/injury. Her hair represents the other streams of consciousness (selves).
Ocean Rising (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
Celeste awakens briefly, to look out upon a human world that she does not understand. The ocean rising represents both global warming and the flooding of the unconscious into conscious awareness. The Essence shines down upon Celeste, who remains separated from the other streams (selves) within the central psyche.
Evolution (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Witt crawls into the island of awareness amongst the many streams of developing consciousness. In this drawing Witt is a frontrunner, that means he is in control of the central psyche/physical body. He looks up. However his unawareness of the other selves is signified by the empty white clouds that fill the blue sky. We have evolved (broken through) from the primordial ocean onto our own seperate islands of awareness.
Consider The Carrot Woman (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
Jackie appears well grounded and has a sexy attitude and a spiky temperament. However she lacks the arms and legs to carry her forward. She is living but powerless without conscious awareness. She is oblivious to a snail with teeth who is about to bite into her or pierce her flesh. She does not see the danger. Jackie lacks the power of inner and therefore outer awareness, making her situation vulnerable and precarious.
The Wasted War (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
Star remains loyal to the protection of the system. She is a born warrior. But will she fight when the war is over? All wars are wasted. The shattered remains of Daniel and others are wedged onto a stake as a warning.
The Flour Mill (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
The Tower in the deck of Tarot cards represents instability. The selves are in freefall. Without inner awareness, no-one is in charge of the central psyche and it may be open to invasion by outsiders.
Abandoned World (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1987)
The first world feeds the third world junk culture. When we are unable to feel the needs of others, we may lack awareness into our own needs as human beings. Here the sad and angry children within in the central psyche feel abandoned by the adult selves. While they cluster together, they are not being nurtured by us.
The Great Flood (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
This was drawn in around 5-10 minutes without lifting the marking pen from the sheet of paper. The tree of life (central psyche) is being perpetually flooded by the conflicting 'inner dialogues' of many selves. The sun represents The Essence and the swirls falling like seperate raindrops are the streams of consciousness.
Krishnamurti's Daughter (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
Miriam is the great deceiver, the protector of the children. She is an angellic being in human form. Here the Miriam adopts a dangerous and hypnotic expression in an alien landscape. She wears the magical red shoes and while she smiles her hand is on the axe. She is the keeper of the knowledge of the dead selves.
Supernova (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
The struggle between the Adelia and Sophie occurs as a cataclysmic event. Naturally each self wishes to have conscious control of the central psyche and the physical body in order to fulfil their life's purpose. However, without awareness, co-conscious cooperation and the nurturing of each other's needs, conflict is inevitable. There is still hope as indicated by the presence of The Essence, Raven's moon and the golden wing of Angel.
Mandala (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
This oceanic mandala represents The Essence or the energy force that created us all. In this painting Sophie can be seen as the vulnerable 'frontrunner' of the system. She's on her own, disconnected from her inner power. Without awareness the others often seemed like unstoppable streams of intrusive thoughts. If one is unaware of their multiplicity, they may become afraid, thinking that their psyche is haunted or that they are possessed by forces outside themselves. In our case, no-one knew what was going on for almost forty years.
Everywhere I Turn Is A Lie (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Due to the lack of apparent consistency experienced by selves within the central psyche, it may be easy to distrust the ever shifting array of perceptions. Since each self is unique, there are bound to be multiple realities and this may be interpreted as conflicting streams of consciousness. One likes art. The other does not. It made far more sense once we could see ourselves as a collective of individuals sharing a physical body.
Howler (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
The system was extremely unstable at this time. The large purple spider across the throat signifies the unending terror and rage. While we have vague memories of 'The Howler', she only existed at this time as a howling banshee, that wailed through the night of the haunted central psyche. She is connected to Miriam.
Self Portrait Cardboard Cutout (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
We were given a plain sheet of thick cardboard at The South Australian College of Advanced Education. We were instructed to make a self portrait out of it. We immediately made a tube and stood in the centre wearing black. This represented the absence of a core identity, one single conscious or host self, who was in control of the central psyche and physical body. On the outside we stuck on the faces of the many two-dimensional selves. Some of these are masks worn by selves and others are true selves during various stages of development. The cardboard is used as armour (Ned Kelly) and the bright colours in nature indicate 'danger' to potential predators.
The Wounded Healer (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Daniel (the sad mystic or the wounded healer) wandering through The Whispering Forest. The Foreign Lands represent the unconscious mind and the whispering the many inner dialogues of the unconscious selves.
Trapped Forever (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1987)
This is Kitty. The dragon is from The Foreign Lands. We call him Harbinger. He is actually a baby dragon who is connected to Sparky. But the selves were terrified of what they did not understand. Here the unconscious looms up behind Kitty. This drawing is aptly titled: Trapped Forever With Someone I Don't Want To Be With.
Kindleton (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
Kindleton is a haunted place, also known as The Street Of Childhood Lawns. It is in The Foreign Lands. For many years a psychopathic male entity/ introject who we call The Claw or The Madhom inhabited the psyche. It used to chase and frighten all the children within, until several of our protectors stepped in and banished it.
Hierophant (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
Raven is 'otherkin.' Normally she is the most spiritually powerful besides Angel and Miriam. The system was in crisis, or on the verge of awareness. We've heard it referred to as a multiple crisis. An 'imp' is attached to Raven's psyche. The moon represents psychic forces outside of conscious awareness. From her colourful turban flows the other streams of consciousness with one sad and lost eye looking out. We now believe that while even one self is lost in this life, we will all remain lost from each other. This applies to both insiders and outsiders.
The Noise of Flowers (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
We have drawn many pictures of the noise of inner dialogue from forests of trees with eyes to flowers that speak. The Essence is represented by the sun with the streams of consciousness pouring down. The being with wings in the centre of the flowers is the frontrunner. Kitty just said, 'don't you dare say that's me'. Throughout our lives it has been as if everyone or everything was speaking or creating a noise inside the central psyche.
Aquarius (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
A victorious and powerful moment for Adelia, a physically powerful earth giantess who leaps from the ocean of the unconscious mind and reconnects with her psychic feminine powers represented by the moon. Raven is a wiccan and she was practising her craft at the time this was drawn. Celeste is also connected to the ocean.
Seed (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
No event in this life is wasted or without meaning or significance. While we did not achieve awareness of our multiplicity during the turmoil of our early twenties, the seed of awareness had been planted. The green shoot of our awareness is heading towards the sun. We began to wake up during late 1998 to fully emerge in 2004.
Summer Becoming (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1990)
The little crooked tooth belongs to a mischevious faery child whom we call Sparky. Channelling: The fusion of selves - Sparky, Eve and Marla are taken away (put to sleep/ made unconscious) by the sun (GOD/The Essence).
Sympathy (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
For many years the invisible walls of unawareness created a sense of separateness and alienation within the central psyche. However there were still some who managed to fuse or work together in pairs or in groups. A gentle self comes in as a suffering self fails to break through into nurturing and co-conscious awareness. Eve often moves in to assist those who are in pain, but without any human understanding of the overall situation. The sufferer is locked into a wall with one hand a claw and the other gloved in the sun. Note that the clawed hand could belong either self, indicating an inner fusion during this moment of selves nurturing.
Danger Signs (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1988)
With the central psyche was on the point of co-conscious awareness in our early 20s, it felt as if everything was waking up. It felt dangerous and cataclysmic. It felt as if something amazing was about to happen. We reacted by adopting stillness and going into hiding/retreat. Not having any idea of what was going on, it felt scary as the selves began to enter each other's awareness. The awakening is natural, elemental, organic and oceanic.
Body Search (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
The search for selves takes us back to the scene of the crimes, that involved extraordinary abuse and neglect. This piece is of an alienated shadow without a core self. Instead we see many disembodied selves desperately searching for a core sense of self that we were meant to have at least by society's standards of normality. But the central psyche was percieved as haunted and empty. The saddest thing for us are all the little hands. They represent the children inside reaching out for nurture. This would not have happened had we known that we were multiple, instead of each one of us being brought up as a singlet (single self or a non-multiple self).
Wounded (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1991)
Even selves who were put to sleep did not escape without injury. Daniel lays injured inside the tree.
Woman of the Thorns (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1989)
A frightened Sophie is warmed by the sun (The Essence) and she begins to grow green and strong at last. We have yet to work out the deeper relevance of the missing hands or feet as respresented in this artwork.
Strange Bird Caught Between The Sun And The Moon (Artwork by Coral Hull, 1993)
The strange bird is representative of the 'frontrunner' or 'conscious self' at the time. Here the bird is protective of the eggs or 'the other selves', but is also standing on them or 'unconscious' or 'unaware' of them. The weather is the changeability of the situation. A window seperates the confused 'frontrunner' from the other selves.
Artist's Statement: So who are you when you are born? Many believe a being consists of an inner essence (a soul), a personality and a physical body. The idea of multiplicity (or a psyche containing multiple personalities) challenges what 'a self' is. Picture your lifeforce as a mountain at birth. The landscape of the central psyche is beginning. A stream of consciousness begins to run (evolve) through your centre. It charts its course from its ongoing adaptation to the surrounding terrain, while it remains connected to the mountain or the central psyche. This stream will contain the many attributes that make up what is known as your self. Your experiences of difficulty may become the little rocks, obstacles in the path of its flow. Some sections may split off into seperate rivulets for awhile, to reconnect later. No life stream is smooth flowing. There will be twists and turns, starts and stops, floods and drier periods. This stream becomes who you will develop into during this lifetime and until physical death, whereupon the self stream will flow into the great ocean of universal consciousness.
In our case something quite different occurred. There was not one stream flowing down that mountain, but many streams. These separate 'streams of consciousness' flowed down that same solid mountain as your stream did. But the separately flowing 'streams of consciousness' or 'selves' within the central psychic landscape, went on to develop in their own ways. This occurred in much the same way as yours did, but without conscious awareness of the other's existences. In our case each stream thought that it was the only one traversing the terrain. That is until March 19th, 2004 when one of the streams/ selves awoke and said, "Oh my God. There are other people living in my body!" The question was: whose body was it?! Over several months later and we have discovered at least 25 separate streams of consciousness in the psyche of Dr. Coral Hull as many came in and were either named or told us their names. Today we have achieved what is known as basic co-consciousness between many of 'the selves' but without integration into one self, which we believe is impossible. The featured artwork was a desperate attempt during our 20s, for those who 'were in' to try and find out why they were living the way they were. It's now fifteen years later and we finally understand why we made the artwork that we did.
About the Artist Coral Hull
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Coral is the author of over 50 books of poetry, prose poetry, fiction, artwork and digital photography. Born in 1965 she was raised under disadvantaged circumstances in the working class suburb of Liverpool in Sydney's outer west. Coral became concerned with issues of social justice and spirituality from an early age. Coral became an ethical vegan and an animal rights advocate who has since spent much of her life working voluntarily on behalf of animals and the environment, both as an individual and for various non-profit organisations. She is also the Executive Editor and Publisher of Thylazine; an electronic journal featuring articles, interviews and reviews of the recent work of Australian writers and artists. Coral Hull's complete works are now available from Artesian Productions (Darwin, Australia). Coral holds a Doctor of Creative Arts Degree (Creative Writing Major) from the University of Wollongong. An extensive biography, list of publications, festivals, interviews, articles and reviews are online. Coral is The Director of The Thylazine Foundation: Arts, Ethics and Literature. Coral Hull's work is in the public domain for non-commercial use under the Creative Commons License. |
[Above] Coral Hull, Elliot Hotel, Elliot, Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull, 2001)
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Thylazine No.9 (March, 2004) | 
