Artist's Statment Journey No. 51

The painting Journey No. 51 has the central theme of a journey through life, the matter/space/time continuum. The boat image represents the human element involved in the psychic/spiritual voyage. The quest can be interpreted as the shamanic "ecstatic" voyage toward cosmic awareness and unity within the three realms of earth, sky and underworld. Implied here is the idea of the human existential journey, the crossing into the unconscious mind. The three part cosmos has been reduced to two divisions in the individual paintings, leaving the viewer to define the symbols in terms of individual interpretations of these worlds. The three divisions of the shamanic cosmos may be seen in the tripartite division of the triptych: left panel, earth; centre panel, sky; right panel, underworld.

The left panel has the symbol of a cartographic "divider," symbolizing the division of life passage into segments from birth to death. The centre panel has the main boat symbol (which recurs in all three sections), symbolizing the physical/metaphysical journey through life. The right panel symbolizes the end of passage and final transformation.

The construction of the work into three panels indicates three mutually inclusive/exclusive dimensions based upon the concept of earth/sky/underworld. The work has a sense of 'dreamspace,' the poetic interpretation for me of 'unconscious space,' using the visible world as a metaphor for the invisible. The topography is one of physical/mind/spirit map convergence.

Journey No. 51 narrates the quest of the artist and shaman through an experience of the unconscious. The work is an externalization of the unconscious space in symbolic/poetic terms.

The two zones at the left and right (panels 1 and 3) can be defined as alpha/omega, quest/resolution, beginning/end, the eternal dichotomy of existential fate. The numerals signify time passage and sequence along the matter/space/time continuum.

The wheel/circle segment in the centre panel can be seen as representing earth. The lines within the circle image relate to the lines of force/psychic energy (ley lines) postulated in position of menhirs, megaliths and other structures world-wide. The 'medicine wheel' can be interpreted as a cosmic calendar or giant sun symbol in which the principal spoke is directed toward sunrise at the beginning of the Summer Solstice.

Central to the shamanic universe is the idea of the shaman, an individual capable, by means of an ecstatic trance, to engage in travel from the earthworld to the other realms in pursuit of spiritual help and information for the people. This metamorphic process would be performed with the help of animal 'familiars,' the rituals of drumming, singing and dancing often aiding and abetting the entrance into the trance state.

The wrapped human figures in the left and centre panels indicate the idea of passage form death to rebirth/burial to resurrection. The figures in the right panel symbolize the shamanic idea of 'transformation' from human to animal form and back, often with the concurrence of an animal 'familiar;' a way to enter the spirit world and return.

The work Journey No. 51 encompasses several aspects of my art production- expressionistic handling of paint, an exploration of the violent and intense aspects of the inner unconscious world. Visible imagery is a metaphor for the invisible, a poetic approach to artwork which allows for a broad range of interpretation.

The 'four directions' used in the total painting indicate the four cardinal direction quadrants, physical/psychic direction, and also refer to the 'Tree of Life,' that complex symbol of shamanic cosmology/ideology/philosophy.

The three realms in shamanic cosmology can be understood as a physical plane, but on a deeper level of meaning and complexity, there is the association with the spiritual plane, experienced through psychic exploration and metamorphosis.

In the contemporary world, the artist is the inheritor of the shamanic tradition, the one who journeys into the regions of the unconscious dream field to bring back essential information. Both the shaman and artist travel into the 'dreamworld' in order to contact the unconscious mind. Art/spiritual knowledge is born through this creative/metamorphic process.

The journey on this boat is the fate of humanity, an encounter with a timeless event which has an echo across the ages, bringing the origins of all that is and will be ourselves, back to the now. The painting has meditative aspects to it, in which colour, line, texture, mark-making, shape and other formal elements have emotive, psychic and contemplative characteristics. The work explores the metaphysical/existential human condition.