The dreams began soon after my Near-Death Experience.
The three strains of Dengue Fever that I had survived left me with a compulsion to create sculptures, collages, and masks.
I also began to paint, capturing the images flowing through my dreams in a unique three-dimensional style.
I found that these acts of creation were healing and re-creating me.
I have taken this realization and made it the focus of my art;
trauma can awaken creativity
and, through creativity,
healing can begin.
SHAMAN
H 31” W 23” D 4”
Wood board, metal basket, wood fruit basket, glass coaster, drawer pulls, ashtray
I believe that after my near-death experience my brain rewired itself through my sub-conscious and into the realm of primal experience – into the dawn of the Shaman.
SELF PORTRAIT
H 48” W 36” D 1”
Acrylic on masonite
I had two intense visions after my near-death experience. In the first, I was floating out in the universe. In the second vision, I was a primitive human running through a forest. This piece joins together the two visions into one.
FEVER
H 20” W 29” D 4”
Wild thorn vines
Fever was the first of my creations. As soon as I was able to leave the house, I went into a nearby woods and collected some wild thorn vines which I then wove into a sculpture representing the damage to my brain caused by the fever.
AWAITING THE DAWN
H 36” W 24” D1”
Acrylic on masonite
One of the most difficult aspects of surviving trauma is the night. At night the subconscious rules, causing many survivors to relive the trauma again and again.
CROSSING OVER
H 26” W 17” D 2.5”
Table top, door knob, drawer pulls
There was a point in my near-death experience when a decision needed to be made; to surrender to the death process, to cross over, or to return. I chose to return.
WELCOME HOME
H 36” W 24” D 1”
Acrylic on masonite
Shamanic journeying to retrieve fragmented souls is a method of healing. This piece represents the returning Shaman welcoming home the missing soul parts.
FIRST MAN FIRST WOMAN
H 36” W 20” D 15.5”
Motor housing, hydraulic controller, foundry part, scrap steel
H 36” W 16” D 9”
Motor housing, serving spoon, foundry part, scrap steel
A tribute to the most common element in all creation stories – the first man and the first woman
THE THIRD EYE
H 24” W 36” D 1”
Acrylic on masonite
Ever since the fever, this image appears when I close my eyes.
DECLINING NUDE
H 40” W 58” D 16”
Nail barrel, floor vent diverter, ashtray, table legs, stair balusters, brass andiron caps, cat’s eye reflectors, book, drawer pulls, faucet, trunk corner protector, eyeglasses, necklace parts, chicken wire
The Declining Nude came from the overwhelming sense of loneliness I experienced as I continued in my recuperation.
BARON SAMEDI
H 36” W 24” D 1”
Acrylic on masonite
Baron Samedi is the Voodoo loa (spirit) of sex and resurrection and can be found at the crossroad between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
NIGHT VISITOR
H 20” W 11” D 2”
Copper flashing, rusted wire, cat’s eye reflector, door knob escutcheon, plumbing escutcheon, knot hole, key ring
Night Visitor was the first of the masks that came to me in the night as a powerful dream.
“That we come to this Earth to live is untrue:
we come but to sleep, to dream.”
Aztec Poem, Anonymous