Connecting to the Unconscious Through Movement and Fumage

In-Studio Workshop
$45 registered by February 8
$55 after February 8

What wants to emerge from your shadows? What images, emotions, or stories are waiting in the darkness of your unconscious, ready to be revealed through flame and smoke?

In this 2-hour workshop, we'll use movement and an ancient artistic technique to access the mysterious realm where dreams, visions, and imagination live—giving form to what hides beneath the surface.

We begin with embodied practice designed to quiet the conscious mind and open pathways to the unconscious. Through gentle, intuitive movement, we'll create the conditions for inner imagery to arise naturally.

Then we move directly into fumage—a surrealist technique that works with smoke and intention to reveal what the unconscious wants to show us.

What is Fumage?

Fumage (from the French word for "smoke") is a spontaneous creative process where you hold paper over a candle flame, allowing the smoke to leave organic, unpredictable traces of soot on the surface. These smoky marks create their own mysterious landscape—sometimes appearing as figures, sometimes as abstract forms, always with an otherworldly, dreamlike quality.

The magic happens when you engage with what the smoke has created. You might leave certain areas untouched, wipe away others to reveal light within darkness, or add marks where the smoke calls you. This isn't about controlling the outcome—it's about collaborating with flame, smoke, and your unconscious to allow images to emerge that you didn't consciously plan.

The process mirrors the way the unconscious works: arising from darkness, shifting and transforming, revealing and concealing. Your conscious mind steps back while your hands, guided by intuition and what the smoke has given you, complete the work.

In this workshop, you'll:

• Use movement to access the liminal space where the unconscious speaks

• Learn the fumage technique with guidance and support

• Create spontaneous artwork that captures what wants to emerge from your shadows

• Experience the meditative, almost ritual quality of working with flame and smoke

• Take home your fumage creation along with practices for continuing this work

No artistic experience required. Fumage welcomes beginners and actually works best when you release the need to control or perfect. This is about discovery, not technique—about trusting the process and seeing what your unconscious reveals when given the language of smoke and flame.

All levels are welcome. All you need is curiosity about what lives in your shadows and willingness to let it emerge.

Materials provided.