Using a neonarrative methodology, this paper attempts to unpack the question “how does sobriety affect the art practice of the addicted visual artist?” This qualitative, auto-ethnographic paper asks whether substance use helps or hinders the creative process. By combining current science, Jungian psychology and personal accounts of visual artists about their experiences with drugs, alcohol and creation, this paper seeks to shed some light on the trope of the tortured artist.

Keywords: neonarrative methodology, Jung, persona, archetype, addiction, tortured artist, architectural palimpsest, architecture as metaphor, Csikszentmihalyi, recovery, painting, buildings, sobriety, recovery