We Were Shaman

We Were Shaman, 2009. 30" x 40". oil pastel and acrylic on canvas.

This painting shows two protagonists furiously clapping, chanting, dancing and banging a drum in a sort of ritual. The left figure is a sadhu or traveling hindu monk; the right a native american medicine man. Their startled expressions can be seen to regard themselves or the infection in the background. In the background we see at the top a melange of african patterns. These patterns are being invaded, overtaken by the sharp glacial lines of a computer's circuitry.

The painting comes from memories of my brother and me covering ourselves in mud as children. Clabbered in this protective coating like two boney elephants we would chase each other or run about around the yard. The painting also stems from a music video my brother did that can be seen here. Wether for good or bad technology has rooted itself deep into our lives. The two shaman in the painting, up to their heads in labyrinthine motherboard, are locked in a ceremony to stop an iniquitous end.