Oil on Canvas – 36” x 48”
October 2019
This painting is about interconnectivity and shared knowledge between different integrated approaches, specifically complex systems science and traditional holistic indigenous worldviews. A “Western” scientist and Indigenous leader work together within an Amazonian “chagra,” with a cosmic web and Einstein-Rosen bridge (“wormhole”) symbolizing the connection between different worlds and views.
Oil on Canvas
36” x 48” – June 2019
A depiction of some of the Nasa tribe’s most sacred symbols. The “Cuantandera,” which is carefully woven into their traditional wool mochila bags, forms the stages of the painting, within the mother earth, or “Mama Wala,” in the Nasa Yuwe language.
Oil on Canvas – 30” x 30”
November 2017
The Indigenous Misak tribe of the Cauca region of Colombia consider themselves to be born from a great river in Ancient times, and call themselves “The Water Children.” The Misak remain very traditional to this day, despite constantly having to fight for their land and rights, and have frequent “water ceremonies,” where they play native instruments and do dances that give respect to their territory, and especially to their sources of water.
The spiral is a symbol that is particularly important to the misak, and it can be found in many of their woven organic attire. It represents in their World View the infinite circle of life, from birth to death, and the cycle of the universe as a whole. This painting models a water ceremony around a spiral of water, which is shaped in the form of a traditional Misak hat called the Tampalkuari, and the colors of the painting are modeled on the flag of the autonomous Misak territory.
Mixed Media – Oil and Acrylic on Canvas – 16” x 20”
November, 2017
One of the communities that I work personally with and study their beliefs and symbolism is called the Kamentsa. They are a deeply spiritual people, worshiping and symbolizing the natural world and their territory in the Cloud Forests of the Colombian Amazon.
This painting depicts the Frog, considered by the Kamentsa to be “The messenger of water and the goddess of fertility and femininity.” The geometric depiction is the Kamentsa symbol for the frog that they weave into many of their remarkable traditional crafts, and the central portion of the painting displays a traditional Kamentsa mask that is worn during ceremonies, and displays symbols and colors of water and femininity.
Oil on Canvas- 30” x 40”
May 2017
This painting represents the ancestral fire ceremony of the Kankuamo tribe of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in North East Colombia. During the ceremony, coca leaves are thrown into the fire to rid oneself of past demons, which for several decades is done by those who have suffered from Colombia’s ongoing conflict.
Oil on Canvas – 20” x 28”
May 2017
The Kamentsa tribe is extremely traditional and spiritual, basing much of their beliefs on shamanism, symbolism, and traditional medicine. They are based in the western limits of the Amazon jungle in Putumayo, Colombia.
The Shaman, or “Taita” for the Kamentsa, has a duality with the Jaguar, the solitary leader of the Jungle. The Taita is known to be the solitary guide of the community, both in the spiritual and natural world. In this painting we have a Shaman transitioning into a Jaguar with a headdress of Macaw Parrot feathers, a symbol of freedom of mind and body. Additionally, above the face is the symbol of the Andean Bear, which represents Power for the Kamentsa. In the background is the Kamentsa symbol of the Sun, giver of life and energy, and the Moon, a sacred symbol of femininity.
Oil on Canvas – 24” x 32”
February 2017
This painting shows the marvelous nearly extinct Zenú culture, whose modern descendents craft incredible hammocks of cotton and hats made of a plant called “cana flecha,” but who do not speak the Zenu language or know many of the past ancient traditions.
Oil on Canvas – 20” x 24”
November 2016
From the Misak community of Cauca, Colombia, a very traditional group that weaves incredible crafts in sheep wool. This depicts a leader of the community, a “Mama” refining her wool, with the background representing a sacred and symbolic symbol for the seasons and energy.
Oil on Canvas – 24” x 30”
November 2016
“Werregue”, traditional palm in the indigenous community
“Wounaan” ubicated in Chocó, Colombia. The experience, turned into a woman, unceasingly weave the symbolism of her people through fine threads naturally pigmented.
Oil on Canvas – 22” x 28”
July 2016
Inspired by the mythology of the Kamentsa tribe of the Colombian Amazon, whose beautiful creationary tale describes a lightning bolt striking a rainbow, and from there come crystals and Macaw Parrots to disperse life to the rest of the world. Looking on is the “Pachamama,” or mother earth.
Oil on Canvas – 16” x 20”
April 2016
A pregnant Embera woman is trapped into an existence of illegal gold mining. Her husband was killed in a mining accident in an illegal mine known as “the tunnel”, and her unborn baby will have no option but to work in the mines as well once capable, as child labor is all too common, and they need to survive.
Oil on Canvas-30” x 40”
March 2016
Representing the “Cosmovision,” or World View, of the Arhuaco tribe of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Northeast Colombia. The Arhuacos are a deeply spiritual people and consider the Sierra Nevada, which is the highest coastal mountain range on the planet, to be the center of the Universe.
Oil on Canvas 20″ x 24″
June, 2015
This painting was inspired by an encounter with the Ethiopian wolf, the rarest Canid in the world, high in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. I am symbolically tying this rare and spectacular animal to the rarity of finding truly and completely sincere and wonderful human beings.
Oil on Canvas – 20”x 24”
April 2015
Only a person who Risks is Free.
Oil on Canvas – 16″ x 20″,
April, 2015
Based on personal experiences in an isolated town of the Cotahuasi Canyon in Perú, where the entirely indigenous communities are descendants of the Incas, now living in very difficult conditions. Above the town are lovely Inca ruins, called Maucallacta, a vestige of better times for these people. While in the town, I met this boy in the painting. He was very dirty and hungry and eager to eat a potato. We watched a soccer match together that was happening in the town that day, and it was incredible to me how much of their past glory these people had lost. Behind the little boy in the painting is one of these soccer players trying to score a goal against an Inca warrior, who is desperately trying to defend his beautiful lost culture.
Oil on Canvas – 24″ x 27
February, 2015
This painting is about Nepal, where I spent two months in 2014 and stayed with local communities high in the mountains. The painting displays the life and soul of these lovely people in their incredible natural setting, all based on my experience and observation.
Oil on Canvas -30” x 40”
December, 2014
Many symbols and spiritual beliefs are intertwined throughout South and Southeast Asia, transcending race, organized religion and historical territorial and military disputes. This is especially apparent through the close ties and parallel histories of Buddhism and Hinduism, now two of the world’s principal belief systems.
No two symbols better represent this transcendence than the Garuda, or “Khrut” as it is known in Thailand, and the Emerald Buddha. The Garuda is known in Hindu mythology to be the “Vahana,” or vehicle and protector, of Lord Vishnu, but is also prominent in Buddhist symbolism, and is often seen sculpted on the outsides of Buddhist temples. The Emerald Buddha has one of the most remarkable and improbable histories that can be imagined, surviving perilous travels and natural disasters throughout the region, and now resides in the Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha Temple) in Bangkok, Thailand, surrounded and protected by golden Garudas.
Oil on Canvas
20” x 20, November, 2014
The fascinating history of the Poppy plant manifests itself through the face of an aged Hmong Chinese man smoking Opium from a bamboo pipe with a porcelain bowl. This man resides in a village in Laos within a region between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand known as the Golden Triangle.
Oil on Canvas – 20” x 20”
October, 2015
Inspired by the moments following a high-speed motorcycle accident. The accident was caused by a line of goats crossing a very slick road amidst a downpour, and the result was a seemingly endless skidding and hydroplaning down the highway alongside the overturned motorcycle. Time seemed to slow down in these moments, sensory perception greatly focused and enhanced.
The painting plays on concepts from physics, namely relativity theory; at increased velocity, time does indeed slow down, such as when approaching a black hole, whose singularity, or infinity, may represent a true stoppage of time. But this painting goes beyond the equations and shows a very real relative nature of time within our own minds which is more difficult to objectively define.
Oil on Canvas – 18″ x 18″
October, 2014
Candomblé has its roots in various African belief systems, but its modern incarnation is a direct result of enslaved Africans who carried their beliefs and superstitions with them when shipped to Brazil, starting in the 16th century. The mixing of different African beliefs, specifically those of the Yoruba, Fon and Bantu, their adaptation to circumstances in the new world, and certain incorporations of Catholicism, resulted in what we today acknowledge as the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé.
In this painting I symbolically represent the unique blend of slavery, religion and animistic myth that manifests itself during Candomblé ceremonies, where priests are possessed by spirits known as Orishas, often in the form of animals.
Oil on Canvas – 16” x 20”
April, 2014
Ayahuasca is a powerful psychedelic natural “potion” that has been used by indigenous Amazonian cultures for centuries, both for spiritualism and as a medicine (“self-cleansing” through drinking Ayahuasca is believed by the Shamans to help remove anything from parasites to infections to cancer).
More specifically, Ayahuasca is a boiled then condensed and concentrated mix of various leaves and vines, most notably the Banisteriopsis vine, which gives it a red color and is responsible for its principal psychoactive properties. The exact preparation depends on the Shamans and regiones.
Oil on Canvas – 16” x 24”
August, 2013
The spirituality and symbolism of the Kuna is on display in this painting, exposing a beautiful and still autonomous culture. The Gunalude (known more commonly as Kuna) are Indigenous South American Indians located between southern Panama and northern Colombia, most notably in the Archipiélago de San Blas (Panama) and Urabá (Colombia). The painting was inspired by a very difficult experience that My Partner, Henryk, had with the Kuna.
Henryk found himself stranded on these islands for nearly three weeks. There was no transport out, and as he found out, very little help within.The Kuna felt no compassion for Henryk, being naturally skeptical of foreigners and themselves holding to completely different belief systems of “humanity.” Henryk fell very ill, to the point of delirium through a full body bacterial infection of his blood. He needed medical attention urgently and some sustenance, but the Kuna made no effort to help, even going as far as patronizing him and poking him with sticks and laughing while he lay wasting away in his hammock.
