title: The cosmic child: The artwork of Joseph Cornell and a type of unusual sensibility, or thinking inside the box: the mind that channels infinity.
abstract: This paper explores the unique mind of the twentieth- century American artist Joseph Cornell, known for his boxes and collages made with "found" materials. The author interpolates reflections upon Cornell with vignettes from the treatment of a young child, speculating that certain individuals may possess a constellation of vulnerabilities/sensitivities that constitute what is referred to as a "cosmic" sensibility. It is suggested that such an orientation can lead variously to anxieties and separation problems, as well as (or in addition to) intellectual and/or artistic giftedness. The outcome of such dynamics would depend on a complex interplay of temperament, circumstance, and relational attunement.
authors.affiliation: Columbia Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheftel
mesh_terms: D001154:Art; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008512:Medicine in the Arts; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D013850:Thinking; D014481:United States