Languaged, Body Synthetic by Giorgia Pavlidou

How would you describe your painting process and your associative relationship between concepts, events, or mental states of the subconscious? Is there a link between self-hypnosis and inspiration? 

Artists, writers, and poets such as Garcia Lorca, Roberto Matta, Henri Michaux, and even Anais Nin have inspired me to paint. Language, for me, comes first, but the visual can support the verbal. I paint as if I’m composing poetry.

Automatism or improvisation is the starting point – bebop – but I’ve realized that the contours of a, often dismembered and re-stitched, female body appears repetitively in my mind’s eye: think Mary Shelly. This flickering of fragmented body parts leaves deposits on the canvas/my mind. There’s something about the human body that truly fascinates me. This fascination isn’t deliberate, and it’s also strange because I’m more cerebral than a physical person: in my view, the body exists only in the mind. This also solves, at least for me, the century-old dualism: the body-mind split. Or, as William Blake said: “the body is a portion of the soul.”

Man is a machine, and a woman is a sublime machine. If you compare the human and the animal body, the human body is clearly synthetic and artificial. It blurs the boundaries between what’s considered natural and what’s considered artificial. I find that thrilling. There’s nothing natural about us humans. We aren’t becoming robots or cyborgs, we already are. We can’t rely on our instincts anymore as non-synthetic creatures can. There are vehicles in the making that’ll be able to reproduce themselves with whatever material they can find on Mars.

How’s that different from us? You could say that humans think and feel, but do we really? Aren’t we just parroting the words, stories, and belief systems that we’ve been fed? When was the last time you heard a new idea? Something you hadn’t heard before, something that stimulated an innovative thought. We’re the protein by-product of language. Perhaps when there’s trance, a moment of silence, or jazz, an intelligent intuition can unfold in the nerve domain. Painting or poetry can help it develop, transmit and circulate. Possibly it can be fertilized by critical reading or meditation.

Is painting a technique that represents a body disconnected from words? a sort of ‘transmuting neurology’

Transmuting neurology, I love this phrasing. Probably our neurology is in constant a state of desire for perpetual transmutation, but the culture must allow for it. Studying the history of painting, I was excited to learn that the Impressionists had “discovered” different shades in snow, something that nobody had “seen” before them. Isn’t that intriguing? I guess they contributed to an alteration of the general perception and experience of what’s “white.” They are also depicted as the very first in the history of Western painting of social situations such as people dancing or swimming. Nobody had done that before them. That’s why the establishment was so scandalized.

Of course, it didn’t help that the women they painted often were what today we’d call sex workers. Can you imagine that in the second part of the 19th century? Later with expressionism and surrealism, painters gave expression to the ebb and flow of what’s inside the mind’s eye. An interesting artist is Francis Bacon. He claimed that he depicted people as they “really” are. Perhaps some of us are polished yet monstrous or disfigured? Or even, maybe the human condition is one of perpetual disfigurement? Whether we can see without words is something I keep on mulling over. I feel tempted to believe that as humans we need some sort of narrative or linguistic frame of intelligibility to see things. Perhaps we can only perceive objects contextually. Painters should be called pioneers or even anarchists of perception. 

Can you elaborate on how language shapes us by a Languaged body, cultured intuition by sound, and language as a living intelligence?

I’d like to emphasize that I constantly toy with intuitions and ideas, not with truths. The truth for me often is a reductionist and particularly violent concept. Think of all the wars that have been fought over some sort of revelatory divine truth, or in later centuries, the so-called scientific truth. The Nazis had their ideology backed up by scientists’ assertion that theirs was the most evolved race (so-called Social Darwinism), and that certain other races were particularly parasitic and had to be exterminated the same way as rats or cockroaches. So, circling back to the central ideas informing my practices such as the “languaged body” which is a neologism, and the idea that language is a living intelligence, I don’t consider them to be truths. These are frames of intelligibility that have grown under my skin over the years of study, reflection, practice, and meditation. I have no problem admitting that these concepts are nothing more than my obsessions. I’m not a missionary.

I see language as something external to human beings, possibly an organism. In the process of language learning, humans are inserted into this external thing we frivolously call language. There are linguists in Switzerland who’ve developed a theory in which language is a symbiont. So not necessarily a virus as William S Burroughs famously claimed, or that it can turn parasitic in case of psychosis as French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan suggested. I see our brain + nervous system as a receptor-like radio, tv, or computer, capable of receiving signals and building narrative. In some way, it’s a form of telepathy. By producing sounds, we invoke a whole shared world that has been forged across thousands of generations. Also, we invest our lifeworld, including our bodies, with words, with a story. If our bodies weren’t invested with language, we’d constantly experience ourselves and others as walking talking meat, protein bags, or water bags on legs. When we buy meat at the butcher’s or supermarket, we don’t think of that red stuff as chopped-up dead animal cadavers. We say it’s a New York strip or whatever. Something similar is going on with our bodies. We have names.

This name is somehow “written” on our skin, on our face. I’ve never met anyone without a name, though I’m curious how that’d be. When we feel attracted to someone, we don’t think “that’s a tasty animal.” Some of us might, however. A whole story about someone is activated within us when we fall in love, a concept of what a human being is, of what beauty is, etc. while we all know that a few millimeters under the skin there’s blood and a skull. But who, except a cannibal or a serial killer, thinks about that? The way language has contextualized humans prevents us from seeing the meatiness of a person. But this experience isn’t fixed. There are cultures in which not everyone has human status. Think of the Dalits in India. In Central Africa the so-called pygmy is being hunted and eaten, most probably because their appearance doesn’t conform to the hunter’s concept of what constitutes a human. It’s also interesting to read the private diaries of people who worked in concentration camps, and how they thought about the people they helped butcher or exterminate. Some agreed that Jews, homosexuals, communists, etc. had to be put to death, but they felt it should happen in a kinder way, pretty much how some activists think about animal rights in our era.

Language protects us by feeding us optical illusions. As humans, we’re trapped in a theater of distorted thoughts. It’s as if we need to drive on a busy freeway wearing glasses deforming everything coming our way. All this is extremely disorienting and frightening. I think maybe that’s why there’re so many ideologies and why religion is such a sensitive matter. These “grand narratives” offer the illusion of certainty and direction: how one should lead one’s life, where one should be headed, and where to invest one’s life force. The artist, I think, has been for whatever reason cast out of the Eden of ideology or religion, and is forced to constantly mold and remold her internalized worldviews, knowing often very well that this is a futile endeavor that must be repeated endlessly. But, at least, there’s some motion within. The alternative would be catatonia. 

Artists, writers, and poets who helped contribute and inform your process?

I sound like a broken record when I keep on mentioning Will Alexander. But there’s no denying that his oeuvre provided me with the missing link in my thinking. I have always had an interest in ritual, animism, and shamanism, but with the latter term, we need to be extremely careful. I adhere to academic concepts of shamanism, such as Mircea Eliade’s. When younger I participated extensively in groups believing that they were engaged in shamanic practices. Perhaps some of those did. I don’t want to claim that I have the capacity to say what’s authentic and what isn’t. What I inherited from these experiences is the sensation of trance. Will’s work transfuses both language and animism/shamanism, especially in his The Combustion Cycle.

Without trance, there’s no writing nor painting for me. Writing prose is different. Poetry and painting for me fall in the same domain as glossolalia, speaking in tongues or trance-speaking. Freudian associating on the couch. Will’s concept of language as a living, possibly alchemical intelligence, makes a lot of sense to me. It connects my interest in shamanism and animism with my obsession with language in a no-nonsense way. WA’s poetics is a conscious journey into the imagination. To truly feel this, you need to understand that the imagination isn’t just “fugazi” or fantasy. The Jungians know very well that the imaginal world is a tangible environment, in which one can move around and travel in. There are beings dwelling there. You can develop a bond with these inorganic characters. Jungian practitioners are aware of this possibility.

I think I can say that Occidental culture at this point in history is in a state of coma or autophagy: it’s eating itself up. The criteria for personhood are so one-sided and reductionist that it is extremely easy to descend into a state of being a non-person. Maybe the only option when that happens for some people is to die and, in the process, drag along as many corpses as possible. Ours is a high-risk society. Having said that, I’ve lived in India for three years the comfortable life of an adult literature student. Life in India is no bargain either. Perhaps I have taken shelter in the written word and painted images because I’ve experienced that it isn’t possible to change your own culture with another. Every culture has its own cruelties, sacrifices, and gains, but they aren’t commodities. The difference, maybe, between Western cultures and the rest of the planet is that, as French novelist Michel Houellebecq suggests, the West has sacrificed almost everything for the sake of rationalism and technocracy. 

There are also other artists and poets besides WA that have influenced me. I’m thinking of the “Grand Jeu” poets such as Rene Daumal and Gilbert-LeComte but also Antonin Artaud, Joyce Mansour, and Roberto Matta. Regarding US artists and poets, there’s, of course, Philip Lamantia, whose thinking and work is like a direct mind-injection into my mind: picture a metaphysical phone call without ever hanging up. Other important people would be Bob Kaufman, John Hoffman, Laurence Weisberg, but also someone like Mina Loy, and some beats, in particular William S Burroughs. I feel a deep affection for a lot of artists and writers: William Baziotes, Arshile Gorky, Thom Burns, Rik Lina, Byron Baker, Emily Dickenson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake, Lautreamont, Guiliaume Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Gerard de Nerval, Grace Hartigan, Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Juanita Guccione, and many more.

Bill de Kooning deserves special mention, on the one hand, because nobody speaks about him anymore and because of ongoing the “de Kooning-bashing. But also because my paintings are a prolegomenon (not a counter-narrative) to his disfigured depictions of Marilyn Monroe-type of women, in particular the teeth: Where else in the world is the business of smiling taken so seriously as in the USA? My series of chopped-up disfigured ladies, “Mutilated Madonnas,” are homage and homologous to his.

Haunted by the Living, Fed by the Dead
By
Giorgia Pavlidou

inside the black hornet’s mind-tunnel

by Giorgia Pavlidou

This is intense work. It’s incandescent. It’ll catch your eyes on fire. Burn your brain down. Giorgia Pavlidou has managed to make anguish appear beautiful. And sexy. Artaud is the tutelary spirit of this work. The anguish is real and the words have the taste and smell of the netherworld in its black gown of sibilant pupa. This is language with a biology; it writhes, hisses, and propagates by glossolalic impregnation. Reading these poems is an immersive experience. Here we find madness, anguish, erotica and Rabelaisian humor welded and wed to a language full of “lexical tentacles” and “fire dressed in fire.” It gets under your skin, this speech. These strangely intelligent & autonomous words, manic as wasps in a vessel of glass.

—John Olson

A pyrotechnics of lingual essence, Giorgia Pavlidou’s “inside the black hornet’s mind-tunnel” yields feeling through the language of the heart creating darkened constellations that rivet the inner eye all the while whirling as an estranged yet organic imaginal terrain.

—Will Alexander

Giorgia Pavlidou

Giorgia Pavlidou is an American writer and painter intermittently living in Greece and the US. Her work recently appeared or is forthcoming in Caesura, Maintenant Dada Journal, Puerto del Sol, Clockwise Cat, Ocotillo Review, Strukterriss Magazine, Entropy and Sun & Moon Magazine. She’s an editor of SULΦUR. Additionally, Trainwreck Press launched her chapbook ‘inside the black hornet’s mind-tunnel’ in 2021, and Anvil Tongue Books her full length book of poems and paintings, ‘Haunted by the Living – Fed by the Dead’ in May 2022

Inchiñ fün We Are Seed/Somos Semilla

Poem read and written by Ceci Nahuelpangui
Tiltil, June 2022 read at Rene Fernando Ortega Villarroel Mental Labyrinths
Opening with dancer Giannina Canessa/Poema leído y escrito por Ceci Nahuelpan, Junio 2022 leído en René Fernando Ortega Villarroel Apertura de Laberintos Mentales con la bailarina Giannina Canessa

Everything tells us that we are in seed times… The seed that dies in the dark under the nourishing moisture of our Ñuke Mapu, Mother Earth…
She surrenders and strips herself of what she is to live fully towards that imminent transformation.
The seed knows what its destiny may be, it was born for this long-awaited process and relies on the help of the cosmos to make it happen sooner or later. The help for this wonderful change is in all of creation… In the birds, the wind, the Moon and the Sun…

So, if we have that understanding and ancestral knowledge, we understand that this is how it is throughout this magical womb of the Ñuke Mapu.
It doesn’t matter what seed we are, what matters is that we are and that germination will exist, but not without first experiencing this important and necessary darkness.
The eclipses, Lai Kuyen the death of the Moon and Lai Antü, the death of the Sun are one more confirmation of our process.
Darkness and death is also part of Life and it also has a beauty that we will discover if we are aware of living it.
Welcome to this wonderful transformation… Inchiñ fün… We are seed.

Giannina Canessa

Todo nos indica que estamos en tiempos de semilla… La semilla que muere en la oscuridad bajo la humedad nutriente de nuestra Ñuke Mapu, Madre Tierra…
Se entrega y se despoja de lo que es para vivir en plenitud hacía esa transformación inminente.
La semilla sabe cual puede ser su destino, nació para este esperado proceso y confía en la ayuda del cosmos para que ocurra tarde o temprano. La ayuda para este cambio maravilloso está en toda la creación… En las aves, el viento, la Luna y el Sol…


Entonces, si tenemos ese entendimiento y conocimiento ancestral comprendemos que así es en todo este mágico vientre de la Ñuke Mapu.
No importa que semilla somos, lo que importa es que lo somos y existirá esa germinación pero no sin antes vivir esta importante y necesaria oscuridad.
Los eclipses, Lai Kuyen la muerte de la Luna y Lai Antü, la muerte del Sol son una confirmación más de nuestro proceso.
Oscuridad y muerte también es parte de la Vida y también tiene una belleza que descubriremos si somos consciente al vivirla.
Bienvenidos a esta maravillosa transformación… Inchiñ fün… Somos semilla.

Ceci Nahuelpangui

Paintings from the Vine by JoLu Amaringo

At 6 years of age, I began to transfer my inspiration and imagination to paper using tempera paint, with the guidance and teaching of my grandfather Pablo Amaringo, over the years I learned to use the technique of acrylic painting on canvas. Today I paint in acrylic and oil, the visions of ayahuasca and neo Amazonico styles, all thanks to my dear grandfather Pablo Amaringo Shuña.

Guardian Angels Avatars.
80×60 centimeters.
Acrylic on canvas.
2021

In this Visionary artwork, we can see below that the shamans in the ceremony are curing a man suffering from a mental illness caused by an imbalance in his pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The shaman kneeling next to him performs puffs (blowing mapacho smoke) to extract the disturbing energies that are emerging. The sumiruna master who is standing is levitating and from his feet radiate luminous electromagnetic vibrations that neutralize the dissonant energies in the patient’s brain and restore his mental well-being.
Next to the Sumiruna we see a snake with the spiral patterns that biological cells form. All cells have a nucleus that contains the double-stranded DNA molecule. Similarly, growing in a spiral is the ayahuasca vine that we see in the central part of the work, which emanates from the eternal spirit for our spiritual awakening. Within the oracle are winged celestial beings known as the “holy virtues”. They maintain the physical order of the universe so that the movements of the planets, stars, and galaxies are governed by divinely ordained laws of motion.
The patiquina plant you see is used as protection against sorcery or witchcraft and acts as a shield.
The eyes of the jaguar that we see at the top is the Arkana that the Sumiruna placed as protection for the healing ceremony, so that no enemy can enter it.
Finally we see the avatar angels at both ends, they transmit spiritual energy to the plants so that the shaman masters can see in their visions the angelic powers in action.

Connection of Bodies
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2022

In this visionary work of art we see how the connection of the bodies by Spiritual way makes them obtain knowledge of the visions.
When the dizziness begins to take effect, they meditate in solitude with the spirits of animals, gnomes, sylphs and sibyls, as we see around this work of art.
Later, while they sleep, they receive the icaros of each animal, Garza Real, jaguar, dolphin and eagle.
On the left we see that there is the sovereign sage known as a’tun mauca runa, “the great ancients” he is the bearer of harmony. They watch over the women who ascend to the heavenly temples to worship. They are the guardians of space, time, stars and galaxies, and they bring unity.
On the right side of the work we see a spiritual woman named Caspi Maman. She will show you that the jungle consists of a multitude of levels that start underground, go through the forest floor, and climb up to the treetops. She will gradually reveal herself as a source of immense knowledge of plants and spirits.
Finally we see that she radiates the light of the Sun. The Sun symbolizes above all the source of light that allows life. It thus provides vital energy, heat and allows all organisms to grow and manifest themselves. With its magnetic power it influences the orbit of the planets, giving them movement, meaning and direction.

Banco-Sumi Master
1.00 x 1.35 Meters
Oil on canvas
2020

In this visionary work, on the right side you see a Bank-Sumi Master, a great shaman master and man of esoteric knowledge who can transform his physical body into pure spirit. He wears a robe of fire. To earn this honor you must rigorously follow a diet to learn from sublime masters and win allied spirits: Yanapuma or black jaguar, bears, owls, jaguar, pink dolphins and the Eelmama (mother of the Brava Cocha, which is a wild and mystical lake where few people dare to venture). He sings blanket Payariri, a reserved Icarus. He says “Manti payariri, ninangu-nacaya“, which means “Mantle of fire, strong as my medicine”.
The magnificent pink dolphins (sublime spirits of the water) form a vault around the Bank-Sumi, whose electromagnetic auras sustain life; the air, the storm and the wind dominate.
This is also an Inca vision, with those who drink ayahuasca dressed like the Incas, we can see an Inca couple on the right side of the work. The man is called Yacoshun-go, and the woman Nukno-pachac, “sweet land.” They come from a city called Great Saara, which was submerged thousands of years ago.
In the central part of the work we can see the Mother of the Chacuna. The chacruna induces colorful visions, while the ayahuasca liana promotes understanding. If you drink pure ayahuasca – the liana without chacruna, maybe a little mapacho tobacco – your visions are only in black and white.
Below we see the jaguar with energy that is being guided by the mother chacruna, this feline is magical and full of esoteric powers. This feline transforms into the king of the spirit world. On the left side, a shaman is seen surrounded by elemental fire, who teaches the esoteric mysteries of charms. And the eyes that emanate above his head allow him to look through them at the spaces of the grid and see other worlds. We also see electric eels, which vegetalistas invoke because the electromagnetic waves of this animal sensitize them to perceive pulsations in their patients.

Inca Knowledge
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we can see a master Inca shaman. In Inca times this Master was a skillful healer with a great knowledge of medicinal plants. He could also travel to other galaxies and dimensions that is why we see planets in this vision. To absorb the feline wisdom, this Master Healer slept with the felines that we see on the upper right side of the work. These felines are mysterious creatures with a lot of wisdom and knowledge of plants. This close contact with the felines creates a telepathic communion.
Incan Master healers like the one seen here were once highly honored as princes and wore gold crowns encrusted with precious stones and brightly colored feathers. Among his allies are birds, such as the eagle that we see in the upper central part of the work. The eagle makes loud and strident calls to warn if someone is approaching and if they have good intentions.
At the top right is a woman wearing a gold crown with earrings (pendants). She is a spiritual teacher of the mysterious Chachapoyas (cloud people) who were never completely subjugated by the Incas. Below her is seen her magnificent city with immense walls, splendid palaces and huacas (shrines) shrouded in secrets and mysteries.
Beneath the Inca master, an ayahuasca vine grows and the galaxy indicates that the sacred vine is the sacred gate to these esoteric realms.
We also see two protective snakes, whose heads are different since they provide superlative abilities of observation and listening to warn of enemies.

Muraya
80 x 60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this Visionary work of art we see two nymphs on the left and a Xilánster nymph on the right, who heal with perfumes and aromas, and teach self-hypnosis and meditation to maintain a healthy mental and emotional state to the Muraya that we see in the upper central part… These nymphs know the secret location of the black rose, a mysterious flower used for divination and hypnosis.
In the upper left part are the floripondium flower (Brugmansia suaveolens), the floripondium is the one that processes the spiral waves and serpentine light patterns to the nymphs and represents the power of this plant to expand and illuminate the unconscious mind.
In the upper central part we see the shaman who is meditating and receiving teachings from the nymphs, here they teach the muraya the art of clairvoyance and spiritual perception, seen as luminescent green spirals around below the Ashaninka muraya.
The constant protectors of the ayahuasca ceremonies that are the jaguar and the owl, one of the qualities of the jaguar is to be aware of the movement of the earth and that makes any enemy inactive. And the qualities of the owl have a type of vision that is perfectly adapted to the dark. They are also known as Arkanos.
In this we can also see Master Muraya who learned to communicate with animals. He learned to call snakes, and toads, from their hiding places with his icaros (magic song).

Pihuichos
80 x 60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

The Pihuichos give a lot of joy to the home. They are birds with which you will feel accompanied at all times by their song and incessant chattering and their colorful plumage will surely transmit good vibrations to you. In addition, the Pihuicho is a bird that belongs to the parrot family, which gives it this friendly and sociable touch. Like all birds, the symbolism of freedom. Never lose sight of that ability to fly, that freedom that you have or that you lack but that you can make use of at any time.
Watching with Pihuichos also speaks of optimism and positivity. If it is because you have it or because you need it, it is up to you to discover it based on the emotions that it transmits to you.

Sacha Huarmi
1.20m x 90cm
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work, we see a jungle woman (Sacha Huarmi), she is a master shaman of the Muray level, she can enter the tree or the waters and dive into the depths of the earth, but she does not have the ability to go to the space.
Below her we see that the winged elemental spirits are arriving, these are napeae and camenae singing and orchestrating the mystical framework of the ceremony. These spirits bring perfumes and balms to prepare and protect Master Muraya.
The jaguar that we see on her, emits arkanas with the colors of the rainbow that surround the teacher Muraya and deflect any sorcery.
The shaman teacher is also learning from the jaguar that we see to the right of her, how to hypnotize the enemies that want to attack her.
At the top of the work we can see the golden temple of ayahuasca, in this temple they teach about the upbringing and care of children. In the temple they teach you to nurture your home and your family, you learn to take care of the structure of your home.
In the purple temple called the palace of the punga is where the shamans are taught the mysteries of the mariri and the breath.
The helical shape of the ayahuasca vine indicates that it can reveal the DNA of living beings and embody their vibrations and icaros. The DNA of animals and plants have much in common with ours; this makes it possible for us to empathize with a tree or an animal.

The Flight of the Hummingbirds
80x60cm
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we see two Inca spiritual teachers. These Inca masters are powerful Sumirunas and Paleros. Their crown, decorated with red and green plants, gives them protection when they drink ayahuasca. His apprentices of palistic alchemy who specialize in sticks can master them only after several years of strict diet aided by these dryads.
The radiating waves of colors illustrate the healing energy of the fiber, which aids the shaman.
The hummingbirds and butterflies that we see in this visionary work are messengers that warn the Sumiruna Inca masters of dangers. Its sweet trills are the most delicate and sublime icaros to sing to people seeking new strength or suffering from terrible illnesses. These celestial spirits dwell in the palaces and temples above, where they gather to sing songs of worship.

Divine Muse
60×80 cm
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work we can observe a shaman transforming his head into the head of a bird. The secret of this practice is that the teacher learns to think like the animal and to share his instincts. Intelligence and education allow human beings to achieve greater perfection and learn more from their experiences. To communicate with an animal and attract its spirit, a shaman must sing its icarus and experience the animal’s hypnotism, concentration, and instinct.
Also in the central part of the work there is an Inca, a prince or Ayar who teaches about the spiritual conception and development of children, which requires justice, discipline, love and wisdom. This Ayar wears an elegant suit, signifying his nobility and majestic authority. Ayahuasca leaves, seen in the lower left, are rubbed under the armpits of children so that they grow into decent, trustworthy and conscientious adults. On the vine of the ayahuasca vine, the saber-toothed jaguar is seen, attacking the enemy sorcery with its long teeth.
Finally at the top we can see two Wayramamas and in the center is the divine muse, or kunan versucum, here represented by the resplendent colors. Each color inspires a different faculty that allows us to live in harmony with the natural world. The yellow color represents intelligence; green, life force and aura; orange represents knowledge; blue, wisdom and spiritual insight; understanding; and violet, spirituality.

The Balm of Flowers
80x60cm
Acrylic on canvas
2021

At the top of the artwork we can see the spiritual beings called “A’tun Runa“, they play the harp and other musical instruments and sing icaros. These spiritual beings maintain the tree that we can see on the right side and above it a staircase that leads us to a pure and immaculate magic palace. The “A’tun Runa” live according to the heavenly laws and understand the imperfections of humans. Everything in the universe has a vibration composed of pure spiritual energy; it is the music of creation.
On the upper left side we can see the sublime master called “Anciano Arconte” and below him we can see the “Wayra Mama ”, when the wave of ayahuasca that emanates from the Wayra Mama’s mouth reaches you, she teaches you different types of icaros, which you can then sing to receive wisdom from the spirits directly. Some waves bring knowledge; others bring healing abilities or the power to reject sorcery. Among the spirals of the ayahuasca waves, four sylphs with golden hair are seen sitting among the flowers in the central part; they are symbols of purity, intelligence and wisdom. They carry scrolls of papyrus containing the sublime teachings of aromatic flowers. Shamans learn about flower icars and how to make aromatic medicines and balsamic salves from nectar.

The Pearl of the Peruvian Jungle
1.50×2.50 meters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this Peruvian Amazonian waterfall, every morning at dawn, the macaws, parrots and other species of birds carry out their fluttering ceremony before starting the colpeo, which consists of ingesting clay from the colpa and after 25 to 30 minutes they will leave withdrawing, to return the next day. The precise reason for this spectacular behavior, and one of nature’s most fascinating shows, is because this clay contains vital salts and minerals that are used in the birds’ diet and serve to detoxify the birds’ fruit diet.

Arcanas of the Sumiruna
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art, the profound revelation that ayahuasca gives to heal the damage caused by sorcerers and witches is shown.
The golden spiral that we see in this visionary work symbolizes the eternal movement of spirit and matter within solar systems and galaxies. Just to the left is a sumiruna level master who is icarando (singing magical songs) to heal his patient from harm.
To the extreme right and left we can see three faces of women with crowns of different colors, these crowns show the level of knowledge that each one has. They also represent the nurturing love of Mother Earth, and a mother’s love for her children.
The fuchsia palace in the lower right is where the shamans learn to heal. Ayahuasca reveals its deepest secrets when visionary dizziness is at its strongest. Here he shows that human beings need to create a balance between their good and bad sides.
The steps lead to the underwater kingdom where mermaids, sirens, pucabufeos and the yacuruna reside.
In the lower central part of the work is the huarmi muraya, which is like a mermaid, dressed in the scale armor of the celestial fish that teaches the shamans the art of alchemical healing.
Birds are messengers from heavenly temples and palaces. The macaw, the green and purple hummingbirds, the eagle. All these birds have a lot of esoteric wisdom; they warn of danger, reveal secrets and teach the sublime wisdom of love.

Moon Night
80 x 60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

The full moon occurs when our planet is positioned exactly between the Sun and the Moon. The Moon, as such, does not have its own light, so it reflects the light of the Sun. That is why, during the full moon, what we see is the Moon with its visible face fully illuminated by sunlight.
Human beings have always felt the influence of the moon and seek help and benefits from it. For some people, the Full Moon is the right time to make decisions, to define a point of view or an option. It is a time of expansion and high energy power.
During the nights of the Full Moon, spiritual people and metaphysicians punctually carry out mindfulness exercises, relaxation exercises and guided meditations.
If there is a bird that has had an important meaning throughout history, it has been the owl. This nocturnal animal is full of mystery and wisdom. Owls have a large head with two large piercing eyes, they have great vision and keen hearing.

The Aguajal
80 x 60 centimeters.
Acrylic on canvas.
2021

The swampy areas, permanently flooded, where the aguaje palm tree (Mauritia flexuosa) grows, in pure formations and mixed with other palm trees and diverse trees, are known as aguajales.
The aguaje is a dioecious plant, that is, it has male and female trees, which produce the fruits.
From the cut trunk, “suri” is obtained, the larva of a beetle (Rynchophorus palmarum) which is an important food in rural areas. The beetle lays its eggs in the pulp of the trunk and there the larvae develop, which are white and fat worms, and which are generally eaten fried and have a pleasant taste.

Medical Vapor
80 x 60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we see a large jar, it is called mahuete, where inside it there are three students who are learning to be master healers, these are called onayas. Inside this jar they learn the magical songs – icaros since many songs are filed and stored inside this jar. As with all sound, the things we say do not fade away, but are immediately transmitted elsewhere.
To the left of the work are the huarmi murayas who, like sirens, have golden hair. They are tending pink and white flowers for use in alchemical healing.
Guarding the entrance to the underwater kingdom are the red bufeo and the mermaids, the underwater guides of the onayas.
Behind them is a magnificent city protected by sirens with magical nets that prevent the passage of spells.
In the upper left part grows toé with its pink flower, sometimes added to ayahuasca to intensify visions. A piece of flower mixed with your ayahuasca brew can allow you to see a person clearly.

Divine Protectors
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we can see on the far right the ayahuasca vine and on the far left the chacruna plant, these are boiled together to make the mystical ayahuasca brew. The angels that we see in the central part of the work transmit spiritual energy to the plants so that the shaman masters can see the angelic powers in action in their visions. The colors of the angels have a meaning: green represents the beginning of life, blue represents enthusiasm and energetic strength, and the yellow of the east represents the freshness and joy of the morning, the fuchsia color represents the satisfaction of a productive day.
At both lower ends we see two female Shipibo shaman teachers. They have the degree of sumirunas, and they know the icaros to heal all kinds of damage according to the colors that the angels have and were taught, for example the green color to heal a patient who suffers mortal damage. After healing, the blue icaro is sung to gain strength, the fuchsia icaro prevents boredom and inactivity, and the yellow icaro will make a person happy.
In the upper central part of the work, we see an alien spaceship that visits Earth frequently. They come from parallel universes and are approached by the Sumirunas to understand the mysterious forces of electromagnetism and gravity that sustain the cosmos.

New Life
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

This painting explores the mystical beginning of life, which can be accessed by drinking ayahuasca.
The eyes that we see at the top are from the Supreme Being, they emit dynamic energy that surrounds the pregnant woman.
The dynamic energy that is surrounding the pregnant woman is the spark of life and the origins of the blood are entering the pregnant mother like waves while she sleeps. They penetrate the womb, giving the child emotions and characteristics, just as electromagnetic waves produce an image on a television screen. It is what you are given to deal with all the problems of life. The yellow energy that surrounds the fetus, are the first particles of matter that were formed by tingunas (electromagnetic patterns).
Butterfly wings refer us to the spiritual world, to the imagination, to intelligence, the possibility of movement and, therefore, the capacity for spiritual and physical advancement. Butterflies have represented the unconscious attraction to light, beauty, what is most characteristic of life and the soul.
Finally we see the pregnant woman, who is sitting on the lotus flower and is related to the perfection of the spirit and mind, a state of total purity and immaculate nature. She is represented by 10 petals that reveal the innocence and original nature of the heart. This flower also represents qualities that are transmitted to the child from her womb such as love, passion and compassion.

Archons
80 x 60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we see that two colors predominate, pink and blue. The pink color in the center of the image represents the earth realm, while the blue color represents the sky and the heavenly realms.
The women we see in this visionary work symbolize and uphold the quintessence of beauty, while the men must develop wisdom to serve beauty.
On the lower right side, we see the healer woman teacher who, while she smokes her pipe, transmits her spiritual purity and impeccability. With the smoke of her pipe archons come out, sublime masters who perform wonderful cures, or in Quechua, “the wise men with white hair”.
On the left are the sovereign sages known as a’tun mauca runa, “the great ancients” who are the bearers of harmony. They watch over the women who ascend to the heavenly temples to worship.
On the right side we can see that the women have a floral crown to symbolize the wisdom that they receive in the heavenly palace. The precious stones of her crown represent the philosopher’s stone, her spiritual alchemy. Women are able to sense danger much earlier than men. This is suggested in the upper right hand side of the painting where the ayahuasca vine touches his temples and crown. A woman earns the right to wear this crown when she truly fulfills her earthly and divine role as woman, mother and companion. It is through her that man receives the crown from him.

Wise Woman
80x60cm
Acrylic on canvas
2020

In the Amazon there are several types of ayahuasca, these vines go to the infinity of the universe, winding many colors, including green, known as Campana Ayahuasca, a color that shines in this visionary work of art.
In the center of the work you can see the wise Shipiba woman with healing abilities. She has learned to heal thanks to the spirits that are called, “Sacha – Huarmi”, which means “Wild Woman”; that is why plants and flowers are found together with it as the “toe”, and the flower of the dale lotus. The flower of the “Toe” represents the strength that the floripondio plant has, full of electromagnetism that the shaman uses as a defense, it is also used for pernicious, contagious diseases and to give relief to the blood.
Above the wise woman we see the arkana owl, the shaman healer teacher uses them as protection to defend herself from her spiritual enemies who come to attack him from below the earth.
We also observe in the upper left part of the work, a tiger with a spiritual name, “Puyo – Puma”, which means “Cloud Tiger”, one of its qualities is that of being aware of the movement of the earth and that leaves inactive any enemy. He is very fearless in his attacks but he is very cautious, these tigers go through the session or ceremony and give the shaman a lot of power of healing vibrations and powers to defend himself from the evil of any sorcerer who comes against him and his disciples.
The snakes that are seen in the lower part of the work are spiritually present in the ayahuasca ceremony or ritual to help to have a better vision and meditation.
“To contemplate the world of spirits is to see another latent world.”

Palace of Master Muraya (Sublime Third Shaman Level)
1.50m x 1.50m
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art, at the bottom center we can see three Muraya masters. Master Muraya has dominion over the land and in the water, the Muraya is a shaman with a more sublime form or, as they say, more educated and is more educated for great spirituality. They are great shamanic masters and men of esoteric knowledge who can transform your physical body into pure spirit. They wear a mantle of fire. To earn this honor you must follow a diet to learn from sublime masters and gain spiritual allies: jaguars, red dolphins, and the eel-mama (mother of which is a wild and mystical lake), where few people dare to venture). Manta payariri sings, a reserved icarus. He says “Manni, ninangu-nacaya”, which means “Mantle of fire, strong as my medicine”. He calls out the yana puyurunas (black cloud beings), whose faces appear in the sky above him. They teach how to heal using wind, mist, and spray. They can cure illnesses derived from love problems or separation, and also legal problems. The magnificent sylphs (sublime air spirits) around the full moon, whose electromagnetic auras sustain life; dominate the air, the storm and the wind. Beneath them are the gnomes who guard the precious emeralds, rubies, and diamonds buried there. When the Muraya sets out on its journey, these gnomes emerge from the earth bearing precious stones.
On the right, we can see the Wayramama and the elemental forces emerging from the depths of space. These forces are symbolized by the formation of a pentagonal rainbow prism. The rainbow and the pentagram that comes out of the Wayramama’s mouth preserve and protect life. The spirits show that animals, plants, and humans have a plan to build their own physical forms: DNA molecules embedded in the nucleus of every cell.

Cosmic energy
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

In this visionary work of art we can see the faces of women, they are elemental beings, they are divas, connoisseurs of floral perfumes, aromatic essences, incense and ointments to heal and purify.
In the lower right part of the work are the red and black seeds of the huayruro tree (Ormosia amazónica). The brightly colored huayruro seeds are widely used in Amazonian jewelry and crafts; they protect travelers and attract good fortune.
We can also see the green snake called “llullo machaco” that symbolizes purity and its green color is like the virgin forest, uncultivated and uncontaminated.
The fuchsia-colored cosmic energy that emanates at the top of the work represents purposeful activity and teaches us to be helpful and warm to others. While the green and red cosmic energy shown in this work shows the spiritual energy that the Arakans emanate. And the cosmic energy of blue colors that this work of art also emanates symbolizes the abundance and nurturing of the earth.

Protection of the Young Jaguar
80×60 centimeters
Acrylic on canvas
2021

The young jaguar indicates that good things are coming and this is mainly because this animal is a powerful symbol of positivity, courage and also virility. For many, this feline is a source of inspiration to achieve goals and overcome obstacles that arise on a daily basis.

Written by Jose Luis Vasquez Gonzales/JoLu Amaringo

I am Jose Luis Vasquez Gonzales, known as JoLu Amaringo, I was born in the cradle of art on December 5, 1991, in the city of Pucallpa_ Peru, when my famous grandfather, the Peruvian painter International Amazonian Visionary Pablo Amaringo Shuña, flew to Japan to present one of his famous exhibitions on visionary and neo-Amazon art.
During my life in my grandfather Pablo Amaringo’s house with my father Juan Vasquez Amaringo and my mother Lidia Gonzales Laulate, I drank countless stories that I heard in frequent meetings around a table. I also drank the vocation for the art of painting.

JoLu Amaringo Art Gallery

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL ARTWORK IN THIS POST IS A COPYRIGHT OF JOLU AMARINGO
THIS AN AUTHORIZED DUPLICATION WITH PERMISSION AND EXPRESSED CONSENT

Meta fiat

non-fungible token
sunthemata
with numbers
I am
a verb on
a switchboard, placement
wrong side of town or
a substandard decimal point
magic
watchwords
golden square chains
a lien against every me
in the space colony
remember
Chevrolet is Apache.
Chevrolet is Cheyenne.
Dodge is Dakota.
Ford is Thunderbird.
Jeep is Cherokee.
Jeep is Comanche.
Jeep is Grand Cherokee.
Mazda is Navajo.
the trillionaire
owns is
owns equal signs
and property rights

written by ©Mitchell Pluto on April 8, 2022, 9:04am Mountain time.

Lawnnosaurus Rex. oil, collage. 9inx12in coldpress

Poemas Clandestinos 1978-1989 Enrique de Santiago

Every time I ordered my papers I found these poems that correspond to my years of militancy in the communist youth under the period of the dictatorship, which in my personal case took place between 1979 and 1989

Already a couple of years ago, around 1977, my concern for writing verses had been awakened, and I still have those first poetic stammers. Those sheets speak of those attempts to provide something different to the word, since when adding two, these would give a different meaning and significance, more subtle, in short, that it had a broader meaning.

I had finished high school, and shortly after I met a landscape painter and an art student, who showed me the secrets of easel painting, it was then that I was already clear that my destiny was the visual arts. Parallel to the instruction, I received from these two friends, others close to the cultural circle that was forming in the neighborhood, they enlightened me about the dark passages that happened daily in our country. There was the coup d’état, the intervention of the United States, the disappeared detainees, the torture, the prison and the political persecution, which were some among many the prison, and the political persecution, which were some of the many atrocities that devastated our people.

poetry was still present, and names like Nicolas Guillen, Ernesto Cardenal, or Roque Dalton had been added to my library. I wrote in my spare time, and much of that poetry served the cause of the offended and their fight for liberation for the construction of a new, fairer life. It was then, during a sunny winter afternoon that one of my friends invited me to join the Communist Youth.

I accepted and from that moment my new name was Freddy. The following year he entered the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile, where the student agitation had restarted after complex years where the repression was brutally violent. Now there were more of us and all the universities were setting up Student Centers ready to fight for student and human rights. They were two hard years, of strikes, street actions, propaganda, and confrontation with the repressive forces-Carabineros de Chile, which at that point was a militarized police force trained for repression-Between art classes, paintings, and struggle, of from time to time some of these poems that I have rescued arose. Others were lost among notebooks or were forgotten on a table in my school.

The months went by one after another; meeting, bells, protests, repression, hiding and reappearing, that’s how the years went by, with a lot of political activity, little appearance, and some verses that are being accommodated in these sheets.

At the beginning of 88, love came with force, since one day in January I met Valezka, who would be the mother of my three beloved daughters. That year, party activity would turn to the campaign for the October plebiscite and find a way to insert myself into the workplace, since by December there would be three of us in the family. It was a tough year for both of us, but we went to all the big marches where we joined the people who had said enough to so many people of darkness and opprobrium. The triumph of the “No” option brought hope for the daughter to come and the verses changed color, approaching a less arid and somber texture. 1989 I arrive with a stable job, my party life is focused on the union. That year Patricio Aylwin was elected, he would be the President “as far as possible”, or put another way: what was impossible for the people, while everything possible was given to the de facto groups and the oligarchy. Those were the years of asking for permission from the dictators and fascists who held key positions in the Armed Forces, Parliament, and the production and communication media. Large state companies continued to be privatized and neoliberalism deepened. From the 90s onwards, were the years of shame, of a protected democracy, and of the deepening of the model

Enrique of Santiago, December 2021

The Smoke Base (1979)

the base of the smoke
it is base without eye
for the bell
a lock vibrates ten times,
and the bewildered sight writes
How many broken ideas are there in the mirror?
for the bell the ear is deaf
with pain of 10,000 years
the crazy race has an end everywhere
lips are pursed,
the exit is praised,
spitting black earth
and the black earth spits us to the sky
burning the pupils
since the base of the smoke has no eye
The base of the smoke has no eye
and the ash drowns a siren
and they crash by the thousands
Well, it’s the autumn of man
the bell screams in fright
and the eardrum tells him to shut up..
but the cry is crying
dog crying,
of worms
of mice
human crying
shoes melt
and the frost boils in its hour
pine is charcoal
and the race burns and burns
The base of the smoke has no eye
but the beginning yes,
but underlies its lock

Carnival and duel (1980)

Dreams have been trampled in the mud
and the moans are silenced with screens and neon
fun to lead the century
on the trembling of absent birds
but one day the crystal clear rain will come
and after the sun
with your new water
kissed by the moon
while the rebellious ligaments
they give off longings on the gray asphalt
under waiting stars
the smooth flight of lepidoptera

The Pedaling (1981)

On a colorless bike
pedal to a sleeping atoll
in that corner of the skin of a rosy vision
under the dark green chair
so that the sole kisses the yellow sands
the contemporary chip
already inside my starry pants
I think it is appropriate to say with a red voice:
Long live this surreal expression!
I then say:
Your violet rifle jumps from the dark
tides
Stepping on the shapes that you don’t have yet
and you were submerged in your numerical sea
where they surprised you between mastabas and whips
and embraced the heavy centuries
under the belly of the galleys
to cross the maps of the centuries
chasing the useless and ephemeral

Night (1983)

Have you felt that the bats
They come to your room one day agitated?
They laugh and denote expired fangs
while the music falls, abandoning each note,
and I look for an onomatopoeia to simulate
my brain hitting the floor,
so as not to perceive how it is extinguished
the spent life of those who do not have feathers
I just want my fingers intact
to pull a certain trigger
and make my way through the gray tangle of his name

Observations (1984)

They are cloudy days
vermin crawl and abound
the palace beasts
the city wears its best corruption suit
and in each office a crime is perpetrated
but there are still your kisses and your moisture
in a brief but broad sincerity
in that street that corrects my face and faith

Reading in Heaven (1985)

The fly refrained from ascending
and stopped at folded hopes
perceiving a usual odor
had drilled all the diameters
known and unknown
of the present medieval apathy
Repelled by bullets the nonconformity
wears black tile
and resume the flight
causing the last ulcers
to existing weight
Tomorrow the cage is undressed
before the soup gets cold

Painting (1986)

Alone, in front of the support
clinging to thousands of flaming voices
and be one and all following the thread of Ariadna
in that challenging labyrinth
where she is shipwrecked and pales her life,
next to the truth and hers custodian loves
be both and call what principle
Without us realizing
that we always carry with the fear of what ends

Dream (1987)

In the courtyard of my memory
I did not pave stone *pastelones
and on the most humid and fertile land
grow a red flower
burdensome and geometric
without the language of capitulation
and got up watered with the brief bravery that drives
almost irrationally to the martyrs
from every barricade in this city charnel house

Demystifying (1987)

The feather vortex
perishes before the litigation of stillness
and from so much looking for potions
on nights covered with the moon shell
I then went to the annals of oblivion
while the image of the eroded sky appears
under the uncertainty of its dim flashes
going through the rubble of your memory
My withered pupil arrived there
to forget you

September Notes (1989)

They will hide my lean meat, under the cover of earth and parallel,
where the traces left by my dreams will not be visible
in those coordinates where the dragonflies nested
In the softest parts of a solstice
insistent the consecrated spells
will be hidden for future generations
while I drink from a larval porphyria
since each wing contains the history of time,
what takes my breath
to set your levels without further limits
that the one that extends in the red slope of a fallen
where each segment of the man fulfills
with the fragility of his own destiny
In vain many look at their savings account
on the gray sidewalk,
when in reality
life goes by insignificant
before your eyes
Now do you understand why?
of the sound of crafty sabers in spring

Art and Poems Written by Enrique de Santiago ©

Enrique de Santiago, Born in Santiago, Chile (1961). Visual artist, poet, researcher, essayist, curator and cultural manager. He studied a Bachelor of Art at the University of Chile and at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Chile). Since 1984, he has exhibited in individual and group exhibitions, counting to his credit around more than 100 exhibitions.
He has edited five books: Fragile Transits Under the Spirals in 2012, with La Polla Literaria; Elegía a las Magas and the book essay: El Regreso de las Magas, both with Editorial Varonas. In 2018 he edited La Cúspide Uránica with editorial Xaleshem and Dharma Comunicaciones, and Travel Bitácora with Editorial Opalina Cartonera.
He has participated in various poetry anthologies, both in Chile and abroad. He has collaborated in the newspaper La Nación with articles on new media art, and in magazines such as Derrame, Escaner Cultural and Labios Menores in Chile, Brumes Blondes in Holland, Adamar from Spain, Punto Seguido from Colombia, Sonámbula from Mexico, Agulha de Brazil, Incomunidade de Portugal, Styxus de Rep. Czech, Canibaal de Valencia, Spain, Materika de Costa Rica and other printed and digital publications.

Swollen Icons and Beautiful Trauma the Erotic Art of JC Bravo

Where does the inspiration come from to paint vivacious ‘swollen icons’ or Zaftig female figures?

My inspiration to create these characters comes from beautiful Trauma. I had a sexualized childhood and have very vivid recollections of intense moments that shaped my life and artistic aesthetic. My voluptuous women are inspired by the Latin women I grew up seeing around me and fantasizing about. The male characters are inspired by the feelings I have experienced when I see a powerful woman. The source of my creativity is the power of femininity. I call my male characters SWOLLEN ICONS because I feel that when men are aroused they swell spirituality and physically. The feeling of blood flow from excitement inspired me to express myself and create these unique figures. They are also inspired by a memory of a deformed boy I saw back when I was 7 years old. His image is imprinted in my mind and somehow it pours into my work. One of the strongest memories that have shaped my art happened when I was a pre teen surfing in Miami Beach. While I surfed in small shore break waves a gorgeous tanned Brazilian woman approached me and asked if I could teach her how to surf. When she laid down on my surfboard I looked at her muscular and plump derriere and time seemed to stand still. She was wearing a thong and was flirting with me. She was an older married woman and was just having some fun, but for me it was serious. That memory inspired my inclination for zaftig female figures and bubble butts. Most of my work is highly personal and evolve daily experiences. And the pain and melancholy in my work is due to youthful unrequited love.

There is a strong Freudian id theme in your work have you read any Sigmund Freud? Cal Jung? what are your views on sexuality and art?

Yes, I have read and studied about them. When I graduated high school I wanted to be a psychologist. I did 4 years in college and when I was about to graduate Psych school I had a change of heart and pursued art. In the end I graduated with a major in visual arts and a minor in psychology. They were very influential to my creative process. Because of them and the surrealists I started delving into my memories to create. I loved that they gave importance to the private worlds in our subconscious. I love sexuality and sensuality; some of the greatest works of art have been driving by this primal force. I think sexuality is beautiful and powerful. I don’t see it as a sin but as a gift, the ultimate feeling in the world has to offer us. It’s the source of creativity and life. A perfect example of how the power of sexuality inspired art and helped change the world was Picasso’s “Les demoiselle D’Avognon”. That painting became the face of an art revolution that led to modern art and it was inspired by the women in a brothel. Picasso once said that sex and art are the same, I agree.

There is an infant, a consort often accompanying your female figures, who is he?

That figure is usually a self portrait. He represents the way I feel. When there are more than one of these little figures its usually a statement on society, the male condition. That’s the simple way to talk about them but I feel these characters have several layers and can signify many things, it all depends on the viewer. Sometimes this character is a SWOLLEN ICON and sometimes he can be a HYBRID. The hybrids in my work represent animalistic urges. One of my favorite painters is Bosch and I look to his array of menacing hybrids are inspiration for these thought process. My paintings can symbolize emotions but at the same time can be read as social commentary.

How do you process ideas from the subconscious and find inspiration on a daily basis?

I like to create art through the surrealist practice of automatism. I let the work unfold before me as work without conceptual restraints and flow with the material I am using. I love the initial process of discovery and uncertainty. Sometimes I am inspired by a dream or an experience and choose to try and capture that vision. But most of the time I prefer to work intuitively. I have coined the word SENSUALISM as my art style because it is heavily influence by surrealism and sensuality. I love art history and I feel my work is in constant dialogue with past art.

Were there other writers made a major influence on the way you thought about reality?

I love the works by existential writers the likes of Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse, Oscar Wilde, Kafka, Bukowski and Nabokov. Oscar Wilde’s book “A picture of Dorian Grey’ is forever inspiration for me. He was one of the first artists that showed me that one could create great art by exposing subconscious desires and fears. I also love the book “Narcissus and Goldmund” by Herman Hesse. In this book I love the way Hesse poetically depicts the life and struggles of the visionary artist. Besides loving books I am also a huge film buff. I love all genres. I find inspiration seeing and taking notes while I watch great films. My favorite filmmakers are David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Some of my favorite all time films are; THE ELEPHAT MAN, AMADEUS, ROCKY, SANTA SANGRE and LEGEND. I also wouldn’t be able to create without music. I love creating while jamming to my favorite bands. I love the energy in heavy metal, punk rock and retro new wave; bands like Audioslave and Metallica keep me stoked while I work.

Favorite artists?

My favorite artists are Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Jan van Eyck, Robert crumb, Ingres. If you look carefully you will see their influence in my work. They have heavily informed my art through the years. I have actually seen Their work in person and have been changed by it. I can remember the time my wife and I took a trip to Paris to visit the Louvre museum and I was blown away the art of Jan Van Eyck. I stood in front of one of his oil paintings for an hour, mesmerized and touched by the sheer technical prowess. When I got home from the trip I decide I wanted to paint like him and dedicate my life to the love of color, sensuality and care.

What can you tell us about your spirituality of surfing and staying healthy?

I have been surfing on and off since I was a child. To me surfing is a way to connect spiritually with nature and the higher power. Surfing is so pure and freeing, it nourishes me every time I go for a session. This feeling can be very addicting and dangerous so I have to limit my time in the water or I can get consumed by it and not get work done. I grew up in Miami Beach. I lived very close to the beach and have hung out most of my life there. All of my art is inspired by the culture of abundance and excess I witness on a day to day living here. One of my favorite paintings I have created was inspired by an accident I had surfing. The piece is called Broken Mirror and I painted it while I was recovering from a broken nose. I put all the pain and beauty I felt for life at that moment in that painting. It now hangs in my home as a reminder and it is my prized possession. After that accident I stopped surfing for a few years but I couldn’t stay away for long. Now I can say that my love for surfing is back and is stronger than ever. Surfing has given me some of the most beautiful memories and frightening moments in my life, I learn from it constantly. When I was very young my sister Giuliana bought me my first surfboard, she was the reason I began surfing, I think she believed that surfing would keep me out of trouble and help me find an identity. She was right. When she died on of cancer a few years ago I promised her that I would surf for her. So nowadays I don’t just surf for pleasure but also to keep her memory alive.

JC Bravo

I work primarily with oil paints. It is important for me to achieve a jewel like preciousness in my paintings in order to convey care and importance. I want to give my paintings a monumental and sensual quality that I believe can only be achieved with oil. Also, oil painting gives my work an elegance that balances the sometimes grotesque and fantastical subject matter.

If you would like to know more about me and see more of my work visit my website:

www.jcbravo.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL ARTWORK IN THIS POST IS A COPYRIGHT OF JC BRAVO.
THIS AN AUTHORIZED DUPLICATION WITH PERMISSION AND EXPRESSED CONSENT

EveryGoatJones Art by Kelly Pankey


My art is a way for me to navigate difficult subjects and emotions, and as I work on each piece, I am able to meditate on, process and organize my emotions about the subject matter I am addressing.

I started really getting into art after finishing a five-year enlistment in the US Navy. I spent most of my time in the service overseas and felt completely lost when I returned to California in July 1999. I had few friends, no social life or hobbies, and an extremely difficult time finding work. I had a ton of anxiety, felt out of place, would go through episodes of depression followed by manic insomnia, and the only way I’d learned to deal with those emotions in the service was to drink excessively.
I wandered into an art supply store one day, looking for something to keep my mind busy and provide an outlet for my manic energy. I started with pastels and watercolor pencils. At first, I just did my own thing, with no direction, technique, or theme. I think that’s probably the best way to get into art. It’s what children do. And they don’t compare their drawing with the other kid’s drawing, they just draw. They don’t strive for photo realism either—if you don’t see the boa constrictor eating an elephant, that’s your failing because they drew it perfectly. I was only in this golden state of mind for a short time, though.

After going through several jobs in Bakersfield, and working two years in Dutch Harbor at a seafood processing plant, I bought a tiny, run-down mobile on the property next to my parents up in Bodfish, CA. I started painting with acrylics, and I took every art class offered at the local community college. I took classes in ceramics, sculpture, drawing, and painting. I also started comparing my work to my classmates’ work. People would compliment my paintings, but I was never happy with them. I loved the classes and instructors but hated myself. I got hung up on every stray mark or brushstroke. Instead of loosening up and becoming more expressive, I was hyper-focusing on the most ridiculous things.

Blue Lotus Scratchboard with India inks. 2021

Scratchboard, oddly enough, helped get me out of this creativity-destroying state of mind. I picked up an 8×10 Ampersand Scratchboard at the art supply store one day. I grabbed a hobby knife and started digging into the clay. But as soon as I made a mistake, I realized this medium doesn’t lend itself well to corrections, and promptly threw it away. Months later, I picked up another scratchboard. There was something about it I found really satisfying, and I wanted to keep working with this medium. I use Ampersand Scratchboards, and they aren’t cheap. So, when I made an errant mark with the knife, I reimagined the scene to incorporate the mistake. I slowly began to worry less about being as realistic as possible and began working from my imagination again. I also realized that I had retained much more technical knowledge from those art classes than I thought, and I found a few artists who were always willing to impart knowledge, advice, and encouragement whenever I needed it. Thank you, Chris Owen and Chet Zar!

Encouragement and acceptance from others definitely helped me to keep going. I practiced all the time. I studied how other scratchboard artists worked. Then, I would experiment with various techniques and different tools while developing my own style. I used my art to deal with difficult feelings and subjects that were triggering my depression and anxiety. Mortality, loss, kindness and cruelty, spirituality and purpose are all there, represented by skeletons, birds, flowers and cats.

One of the most therapeutic boards I did is Enoch’s Gone Home. I was caring for a colony of cats left behind when a neighbor died. She was a cat hoarder. It was terrible. There was one small kitten I named Enoch, who didn’t thrive. He always seemed weak. He wasn’t very assertive and often got pushed away by the others during meal times. I tried to help him, but I had very little experience with caring for community cats. One day, I noticed him looking really bad. He seemed listless and weak. I rushed him to the vet, but it was too late. I was unwilling to give up, however, so I brought him home and tried to give him water and food. Poor little guy died in my arms the same day. I felt so guilty. I took it personally. I Couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I started working on Enoch’s Gone Home.

Another favorite is this 24×36 scratchboard I did, titled, Meeting Death in a Forest. The viewer is looking up at Death, who is escorting a nest of birds into the afterlife. Everything from the perspective, light and shadow placement, and the direction of Death’s gaze is important to me. I use skeletons much of the time to represent Death, but not always. Sometimes they are not the personification of Death, but are symbolic of other human attributes or experiences. I also like to do a visual definition of a particular word as the subject of my work. Empathy and Feral are two examples. Again, everything from the feathers in Empathy to the tooth-lined tongue path leading to the cottage door in Feral is important to my definition of those words.

Wildland Urban Interface Scratchboard, inks. 2020

I take commissions, occasionally. Pet portraits are a popular request, and scratchboard is a favorite medium of pet portrait and animal artists, as it lends well to very fine details. I have seen some amazing, hyper-realistic animals on scratchboard. I think I may be the only scratchboard artist in the world who hasn’t done a lion, tiger, or zebra. But I have done human portraits—only a few though, and only of close friends and family.

I really enjoy doing studies of many different subjects. Anything that happens to catch my attention is a potential subject for a study or even a larger work. I’m constantly taking photos of anything I see around me that looks like it could be challenging, interesting, ugly or beautiful on a scratchboard.

I do not like to be limited on what themes I address or style I use in my art. If I forced myself to focus on only a narrow theme or style, I would feel stifled and claustrophobic. I never know what I’ll work on next (unless it’s a commission). It’s always a spontaneous decision for me. I may hear a word, see something, get a feeling or be overcome with some emotion or experience that I cannot separate myself from—and that will probably be the subject of my next scratchboard.

https://www.everygoatjonesart.com/

Exhibitions:
Kern Valley Museum- Kernville, Ca October 2016
Bakersfield Museum of Art- Bakersfield, Ca May 2019 Visual Arts Festival
Kern Valley Museum- Kernville, Ca June 2019
Work used by Ampersand Art to advertise Fall Scratchbord sale, 2019]
Arts Illiana Gallery “The Crow Show” February-April 2020

Publications and Reviews:
KRV’s Hidden Gems: Kernville Arts and Crafts Festival Kern Valley Sun, September 2019
Skilled Hands Bakersfield Magazine, February 2018 [No Link Avail.]
Artist Finds Focus Kern Valley Sun, June 28, 2017
First Friday, Dagny’s Coffee, November 2019

Awards and Recognition:
Best in Show, The Crow Show, Arts Illiana Gallery, Terre Haute, IN 2020 1st Place, Kern County Fair, Professional Scratchboard Art- Bakersfield, Ca 2019
1st Place, Kern County Fair, Professional Scratchboard Art-Bakersfield, Ca 2018

Collections:
Alex Joya, La Costa Mariscos Bakersfield, Stockdale Hwy
Bakersfield Veteran’s Clinic, Bakersfield, Ca, Westwind Dr.
Kern Veterinary Hospital, Lake Isabella, Ca, Lake Isabella Blvd.
The Cyclesmiths, Kernville, Ca
The Starlite Lounge, Kernville, Ca

Patriarchal Decadence and Her by Enrique de Santiago

HER


And from beyond the intellect comes beautiful love trailing her skirts, with a glass of wine in her hand.
Rumi
From above with his selenite love
descends the brief nomenclature of desire
in her diamond lust
kissing in purple intervals the waves that announce your steps
with your coming laugh
to testify about the rain
and in the nyctalope depths
in its germinal dance
the final hour of your name.

Patriarchal Decadence


(or Brute A attacks Brute B)
Do you think that money will stop being fascinating?
and if one day it disappears
Do you think power will lose its appeal?
possessing is more addictive than loving
your missiles and two more
the poker of life
a “quijadaso”, ‘jaw bone’ well given in the skull for Abel
(although that fact marks the end of grazing and the beginning of agriculture)
that happens for misreading the allegories
and also wrongly see the universe
added to a dark and patriarchal church
I light candles for Ishtar instead
and I hear the voice of the earth
but…
Will there be anything left to restore the feminine?
End of statement, I’m going to the shelter.

Art and Poems Written by Enrique de Santiago ©

Enrique de Santiago, Born in Santiago, Chile (1961). Visual artist, poet, researcher, essayist, curator and cultural manager. He studied a Bachelor of Art at the University of Chile and at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Chile). Since 1984, he has exhibited in individual and group exhibitions, counting to his credit around more than 100 exhibitions.
He has edited five books: Fragile Transits Under the Spirals in 2012, with La Polla Literaria; Elegía a las Magas and the book essay: El Regreso de las Magas, both with Editorial Varonas. In 2018 he edited La Cúspide Uránica with editorial Xaleshem and Dharma Comunicaciones, and Travel Bitácora with Editorial Opalina Cartonera.
He has participated in various poetry anthologies, both in Chile and abroad. He has collaborated in the newspaper La Nación with articles on new media art, and in magazines such as Derrame, Escaner Cultural and Labios Menores in Chile, Brumes Blondes in Holland, Adamar from Spain, Punto Seguido from Colombia, Sonámbula from Mexico, Agulha de Brazil, Incomunidade de Portugal, Styxus de Rep. Czech, Canibaal de Valencia, Spain, Materika de Costa Rica and other printed and digital publications.

Patrick Hourihan Automations

An automatic drawing is the starting point for an image. A powerful sense of promised adventure arises and the process of freely transferring the drawing onto the canvas will trigger an opening of doorways to another world. Nothing can be forced and it’s similar to a two-way conversation with the developing image before me.

I have to listen and the process is always full of surprises. Constantly having a feeling of ‘otherness’, alongside a foreign/unknown part of me, comes forth as a flow of departing points.

Fantastic Duet Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 60cm

Surrealism was just part of a larger personal picture for me, with no aspirations of calling myself a surrealist …or anything else. But it strangely seemed to follow me.

Night Music Acrylic on Canvas 65cm x 81cm

Outsider art has a compulsive need to externalize an inner world with no ego and a wonderful innocence.

Drawings From Patrick Hourihan Dibujo Automático

London -based Surrealist, Patrick Hourihan. Paintings, Automatic Drawings, and Boxed Assemblages.
photo David Caldwell

Full interview with Antonio Rámirez / Translation by Gala Milla

Óxido Lento – Crítica y reflexión sobre un mundo erosionado