Type 1 - The Perfect One

Exploring the Enneagram through Art (continued)

I want to explain the different types as they are identified in the Enneagram of Personality by using images of the sculptures we made for our exhibition, Your Signature, My Life. 

Our personalities are formed in our attempts to protect and defend our essential being, or essence. By adopting coping mechanisms in childhood, we survive the physical world, but get cut off from our essential nature. In each sculpture, we portrayed the personality type as the imprint or Signature that has been stamped onto us. The essence, or Life, which has to be allowed to surface in order for us to fully realize ourselves, is shown to be present always, but nuanced and even hidden.

By exploring the Enneagram in this way it helps us to get insight into the deeper meaning of our life that we not always have access to through cognitive thinking alone.

In The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Riso and Russ Hudson, they "have named personality type One the Reformer, because Ones have a sense of mission that leads them to want to improve the world in various ways, using whatever degree of influence they have."

The signature of this personality is perfectionism. In childhood the unconscious message was that it is not acceptable to make mistakes. Ones then tend to live their lives trying to do what is right. They live in a black/white world where grey areas are not tolerated. They tend to be critical of others but especially of themselves.

Their deepest desire is to be good and virtuous, to be in balance and have integrity. They connect with their true nature, their life essence, by making peace in their internal war and by accepting all parts of themselves. They then become wise and discerning, putting to good use their strong sense of intuition, their ability to be practical and focused and their passion in fulfilling their dream to live for a higher purpose.

The signature/ personality trait of Ones  in the white/black or right/wrong aspects of their thinking is shown in the perfect sphere of two toned wood.  Their Life essence however is shown as a organic, plant-like figure growing out of a cracked split in the sphere, thereby indicating that it is in accepting imperfection and brokenness that they can grow towards the higher purpose they feel called for.

Materials used: Ceramic clay, Mahogany Blondie, Blackwood, Yellowwood, iron screws.

Size: 70cm high x 45cm wide x 15cm deep

Artwork by Matilda Clifford and George Angus

Bibliography:Helen Palmer, The Enneagram (HarperCollins Publishers, 1991)

Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, The Wisdom of the Enneagram (Bantam Books, 1999)

Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert, The Enneagram A Christian Perspective (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009)

Matilda