Some Goddess is Around...

There has been some Goddess themes running throughout my life, and much of my POK and Mummies artwork references the Metasymbol of Goddess or Empowered Female. At this time, some Goddess artworks came out of me, almost without me intending it.




The Goddess theme happens to reocurr in my studies since, in part, it represents Nature (or Mother Earth) which is one of the most (if not the single most) powerful drivers of my work. I also happen to LOOOOVE women, though by now I have opted for "just" one, hahahah!
She happens to be the Goddess in person.
I was amused years ago when learning that in the history of humanity, Goddess worship is far more extensive chronologically and geographically than God worship (or Sun religions), which came about fairly recently (if we compare in historical time). It is fascinating to learn about how this transition came about, and also the many cultural implications and differences between God/Goddess worshiping cultures.

More interesting, are the archetypal attributes of each, and how their roles and tendencies play out every day in the symbolic/mythic drama of Life.

It is extremely important for me to clarify now that I am no Goddess worshiper. In fact, in what I have learned so far, it could be dangerous to be a Goddess worshiper. But far more dangerous at this time in deed, would be to be a God worshiper! (this is where I offend people and they freak out if they are not opening their minds! But fortunately, very few, and very open-minded folks read this blog, hahahaha). Also consider that the greatest crimes against life and humanity have been -and are being- done in the name of one God or another.

The truth of the matter is that, only the integral balance of the male and female attributes can bring about prosperity for humankind (and consequently earth). This, in fact, was one of the great secrets of the alchemists, called the "alchemical marriage". The very simple idea is that neither element is complete wihout the other, and their attributes need to fuse in order to moderate/activate each other. All of this, to some, is no news, but keep in mind that I write in this blog to bridge a gap rather than to simply reinforce what to some of us is ancient knowledge.
At this time, we suffer from an imbalance that has long been brewing, and is now culminating. It is, obviously, a male-heavy imbalance. this is not a literal statement ("too many guys around") but it is rather a metaphorical one (too much "phallicking around"). The overused MAN energy has brought about war, and more importantly, the very ominous possibility of extinction in the face of over-exploitation of the earth. Take a moment to think about the many symbolic connotations of this exploitation or dismissal of the female attribute in every layer of life...

At this time, feminists would hurray this, but I am no feminist either. I do not believe that women should change to find a role in the world or in society, that is closer to the role of man. I think instead, that society should change to accomodate for the Goddess archetype. For example, instead of having more female business-office women, I think we need less offices and businesses! More love, more art, more freedom, more poetry, more peace, more greenery. Less poking and proving, less empiric gaze, less machinery, less banks and phallic skyscrapers packed with debt, paperwork and policies!

Yikes, I got excited there... shishh...

Anyhow, while I am not a Goddess worshiper, I might as well be one at this time of imbalance, where really, we either talk to the Mother and caress her, or bury ourselves further, in our own over-productive, over-consuming waste. Ultimately, both roles are extremely important, and the need to unite and balance them is key. Did you ever read the book about women from Venus and men from Mars? I didn't, but if it was any good, it probably talked about this, hahahaha.

I did not want to go into this too much, so I really should stop blabbing and get to the point: the
work. So, without planning to at all, I completed two artworks relating to the Goddess this month.

My great friend, who happens to have the business name of "Mother Moonbeam" and who also happens to be one of the most amazing phisical embodiments of the Goddess archetype in all her power, will be giving birth any day now!

I was given a cast that was made of her belly, to paint on. The idea was to paint something significant to the theme of birth and motherhood for her to have a powerful memory of this unique time of her life. I chose to use symbols in a very deliberate way, as always. Here is an image of the belly cast painting as it is done (except for one cleansing step that we will do at a special birthing ceremony). I also made use of my understanding of Sacred Geometry.




Update: Below is the bellycast finished and activated. Mother Moonbeam is in labor right now! (Sat, Sept 26, 12:36am)



First in the center, there is a seed, or sun that represents the origin of life, and the baby (it's a boy!). Around it is the earth layer which represents the community and context in which this seed is conceived and grown. This layer is made with clay that was extracted from Mother Moonbeam's urban community farm called "Healcrest Community Farm". As you may notice, every layer of a power object such as this is tightly connected to the subject (and to a synchronous Universe), which makes the object "activated" and the prayers and intentions set into it are then succesfully delivered to the physical plane. From the seed stems a three-armed spiral or Triskelion, which I chose as a multilayered symbol. Every three months the orbit of the sun traces a spiral. So in one layer, this is a sun symbol. But three spirals make a period of nine months, conveying the process of pregnancy, thus integrating male and female attributes into one. From the seed grows a tree, representing of many things including growth, prosperity and life force; and roots, which anchor this life-force to the Earth. A powerful moon hovers to simbolize the Goddess (which my friend is quite fond of...) and from it comes a drop of "Moon Milk" simbolizing abundance, rain, fertility and of course, the ever-nurturing mother's milk. It is a work that hopes to embody and materialize the eternal cycle and power of Motherhood, in its most Goddessly sense...

The second artwork I want to share, also very related to all these attributes, came as a response to a call for artists of the Visionary Arts Festival for a show called G-Spot, a response show to the meeting of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. The work had to be "sexy".

So again, I thought this was a great opportunity for the Goddess to appear, since: who else is better suited to respond to the Phallic nature of the G-20 summit? and plus, who could be more sexy than the Goddess herself?

Since this time the Goddess atribute was not quite the motherly side but the sexy side, the tone is much different, and I will post it on a clickable link just because sometimes younger peeps see my blog (and their parents might be frightened by the power of certain female features, here "enhanced" hahahah). So here she is: GODDESS and another image of her.

This large drawing is 35 by 55 inches and done using Walnut ink on paper. In this image the ink is still wet...

If you happen to be reading this in time, you could see the actual piece being shown at FE Gallery in Lawrenceville, along with other visionarilly-raunchy artworks, for the opening of "G-spot" on Thursday September 24 at 7pm.

There, we might meet, and talk more about the many things I do not dare say publicly ;)

Look for the skinny guy with long messy dreads and utter to him the secret password:
"I walk in spirals towards the rising Sun" to which I will respond "Do not forget the Moon gives light when the sun does not" to which you will respond with any remark or comment whatsoever, which should fruitfully spark a wonderful conversation, maybe even a heated one.

Sept 22, 2009

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Javi's Flowers

Here is a different/similar layer of my work and life.
Today, my son Javi and I went on a walk to the Allegheny Cemetery, which is one block from our house so we always go there for adventures.
We played some futbol for a little while, and then went exploring.
Javi found/collected a bunch of small blue flowers. He said he was collecting them for a "Flower artwork"...
I wasn't going to argue with that...

Along with the blue flowers, he collected just one yellow flower.

I thought I should take a picture of this.

I have long been fascinated by the way in which common things show themselves, when looked at upclose and with attention. At some point I started shooting images through a magnifying lense (for lack of a zoom lense), to share these micro sights with others.

Anyway, Javi put the flowers inside a plastic set of binoculars he had brought with him, to take them home.

Later, on our walk back home, we found this giant mushroom...

Later, when we got home, Javi had the idea, all in his own, to keep the flowers inside the binoculars, to make "one of those art things that you look into."

I don't know where he gets these ideas!

AA09

Middle Layer

"Middle Layer: Have You Recognized?" (Currently in the private collection of Steve Zelicoff) Box Assemblage, 8" x 10" opened. Alberto J. Almarza August 26, 2009

This is a work I created on August 26, 2009. It is very much related to the previous piece "Metabiotic Cosmos: I May Speak of This Secret Without Using Words" in a number of ways. First is the technical idea of placing the second and third dimensions of art media side to side, referencing each other. In this piece, made in an opened 8 by 10 box, the drawings on the left side are an abstracted and very in depth "explanation" or "equation" (except non-rational) referencing the more familiar scene in the right side.

Part of the concept is, much like in the previous piece, to demonstrate a contrast between "that which is real" and "that which is a representation". However, a question -or a challenge- is raised here that is much more important. It involves the possibility that the reality of a tree may be different than originally and consensually conceived, because of taking its representation for granted. In other words, while a tree is very familiar and easily dismissed as "tree", something in this piece hopes to suggest that we have severely underestimated and failed to recognize aspects of the reality of a tree. And of course this goes to cover any aspect of our surrounding; a tree being only a very easy example or icon to use. And really, it is all about taking the time to see the layers of things.

This is the second strong connection to the "Metabiotic..." piece. As in much of my work, this tree is both the object and the metaphor for a far more complex model of existence. This tree (like every tree) is positioned as a live being of the middle layer, a life layer that filters, processes and creates energy and information between two ends of an infinitely wide spectrum. The tree is what I call a "tube" which, much like a human, is a bridge or a channel of mediation between the material and the inmaterial. It is a physical vessel that has been given anima, or life force (if you think I'm crazy just study more in depth, maybe begin scratching the surface, ask: what is Anima Mundi?, or ask: What is a Tulpa?)

Inevitably, a huge problem arises here, related to the difficulty of delivering this particular message into the material plane using ANY of the conventional forms of communication. I have almost come to believe that one cannot achieve this, and that, unless the viewer has already been exposed, they may not be able to understand/accept the entirety of this notion. Hence I have subtitled the piece: "Have You Recognized?", knowing that those who do, would say: "yes" and those who don't would say "what?".

So,

HAVE YOU RECOGNIZED?

This work relates to a very simple yet hard to share notion, relating to an infinite LOVE and appreciation for LIFE. Without trying to be exclusive I recognize that this has been a challenge for my "post-iniciatory" artwork. While some folks see the work and seem to understand or agree or appreciate, (or may not say it but simply exchange a gaze of cosmic agreement) others require/demand a long-winded, rational explanation and many times end up still in clouded skepticism, sometimes even reacting with anger. Personally, I am very fond of science, truth and reality. This said, I have experienced an aspect of this reality which is impossible to measure, explain, convey, share or demonstrate. I am also aware that, before experiencing it, I would have never, EVER, believed even in the possibility of its existence. It is a realm of wholeness and connectivity amongst all things, that exists beyond the illusory veil of "reality".

While this connection belongs to all of us, we have forgotten. We are asleep in a dream of patterns, convictions, definitions, systems and norms. And so I ask, what is a "tree"?

There are things that can only exist to those who experience them and those who don't will forever deny the possiblity of their existence. However, the key is that EVERYONE can experience such things. And it is disbelief itself that knocks the emergence of such truths out of the common truth. If you are a skeptic, you will sustain a perception that confirms your beliefs. If you are a believer, you will sustain a perception that confirms your beliefs. For it is the mind that dictates perception and experience. Could quantum physics (or someone!) finally "confirm" the idea that "believing is seeing" and not the other way around? If so, then by embracing this notion more of us could begin to see past the material veil of objects -such as my works- and infinite others, which have been talking about this "thing" since ancient times; this OLD and taken-for-granted Sacred existence thing, among us and through us since the beginning and most endless of times. This thing... oooh My job is maybe just to instigate a second-long pause. An open-minded breath, traced with an eternal question mark, and infinite possibility. As there is no final boundaries or truly answered questions, the doors open. So here I am, unable to speak with words, trying to share what I can't, and conscious that this is my life mission.

AA09

METABIOTIC COSMOS "I May Speak of This Secret Without Using Words"

With the little time that I have to do this enjoyable blogging, I still wanted to take a second to share a bit about the process of creating this piece called "METABIOTIC COSMOS: I May Speak of This Secret Without Using Words".

I happily sold this piece just last weekend, during the Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival, which turned out to be a wonderful experience for me, the artists and the public, and I will surely try my hardest to make it happen again in 2011.

Unfortunately, only when I sold this piece I realized I had much documentation regarding the process of its creation, and yet I failed to make an image of the final object! I am working on contacting the buyer so that I can get this image, but in the meantime you will have to imagine what the final object looks like, based on the process for it. This works great for me anyway, since much of my work is focused on the process of its creation rather than the final product, which I call "residue".

Still, here is a picture of the latest stage of the piece that I remembered to document, when it was still very far from finished.

As you can see, it is a flat surface which I have drawn on, and it also has physical objects in it. I have always been fascinated by the contradictions and connections between dimensions. In this case, the object attached to the right is a "window"; a viewer, much in the style of my Vision Chambers. Similar to these, this viewer is intended as a type of portal; a viewing frame that transports the viewer, dimensionally, to a different place. The piece toys with the idea of an interplay between what is seen in the window and what is seen in the surface. The drawings in the surface are a raw simbolic repreentation of what is depicted inside the viewer. This idea is inspired by much of the world of Art, where an idea so powerful as an artist's vision, can only be represented through matter in representational, limited ways (hence my term "residue" to occasionally describe art objects)

As I am talking strictly about technical things right now, you may wonder what this piece is really all about, to which my only answer can be: "I may speak of this secret without using words". However, if you stick around through this conversation you may get a sense of something.

So, this is a surface image of the viewer before it was attached to the piece...

And this is is an image of the proportional size (to my hand) of the contents of the viewer...

And next is an image of a part of what you may see when looking through the viewer (and here you are going to have to understand that: 1) this is impossible to photograph due to focal lenght, size of chamber aperture, light, depth of field, etc... and 2) everyone has a different visual experience when looking into any of these types of chambers.)

Ok, enough technical stuff, we can get to some of the more in depth layers of this work, though I cannot guarantee that I will actually talk about anything too concrete, since there are plenty of places to rationalize, solidify and explain things, everywhere in this world. Instead, there is a movement toward the mystery of all things, the sacredness of things, that needs be respected and not tagged with labels.

There was a neat thing going on in the early stages of this piece, while I was still just imagining, dreaming and visualizing it. After many sketches and thoughts about it, I finally approached the surface of the piece. Working with the ideas that I was working with, I felt a strong atmosphere of connections and power. Many little special things happened while I was at work, and they all seemed to synchronically confirm that something good, and very fascinating was happenning. To share one of these, I filmed a consistent event that occurred as I was designing the piece, and that was consistent with the intentions I had prepared while ideating/ritualizing the surface:

"Magic Energy Embedded Onto Artwork"

I need to add that there appeared to be no trace of static electricity on this surface, since I kept running my hand throught it trying to feel it/neutralize its effect, to no avail. The same thing kept on happenning no matter what I did, for a long time. I called it "magic" energy because the types of energies that cause this kind of physical phenomena usually follow entropy and therefore exhaust their power soon after being tapped, especially if they are affecting other objects (unless there is a kind of "unlimited source" for the energy!) In this case, the energy did not seem to wade.

Ironically, as I intended to not speak of the secret behind this piece, I contradicted myself in the very early stages of its creation. In my sketchbook, I created a text called "attempt for a written description regarding the concept behind the Metabiotic Cosmos"! I just couldn't help myself to try to define what I was creating, even as I knew this was impractical. In many of my statements of art I have declared that art is the ultimate anti-art, because as we attempt to materialize Spirit, we "de-Spiritize". This is why I stand strong next to the idea that art is most sacred and powerful to the artists that enact it, more so than to the observers who experience the residual products (by the way, give it a try!)

I will share these conceptual pages of my sketchbook, which show the original thoughts behind the creation of this work, as well as the contradictory descriptive text page. If you are persistent enough to attempt reading my handwriting, and if you can hear the message of these words with uncluttered ears and an opened Self, you may just get a glimpse of what I have not been talking about. Ultimately, there is nothing I could say or do, even if I tried, to share this secret, since this is a kind of spiritual contract that I experienced in my own body and soul, and that each of us may choose to sign and commit to individually. That is, as far as I have learned, the only way in which one may enter.

Spontaneous "Thought-Forms" Series

Created June, 2009. Exhibit opening at Mendelson Gallery July 3rd.

I created this series of drawings during two weeks in the month of June, 2009. I approached the blank surface with no pre-conceived idea other than the intention to create spontaneous abstract forms referencing the orders in nature. The series ended up as a total of 16 drawings that I named after their completion, based on the general essence I perceived when observing them. First, there is a series of 8 5" x 5" drawings I called the "Diatomic Thought-Forms". These appear to represent seed, nucleous, cellular, generative or primordial abstractions of the natural metaphoric cosmos. Second, there is a series of 5 8" x 10" drawings I called "Biomimetic Thought-Forms" which may represent the "middle realm", animal, insect, plant and human layer of the Bios (and apparently some of their "atmospheric" interactions and processes). Finally there is a series of 3 11" x 14" drawings I called the "Metabiotic Thought-Forms". Metabiotic is a term I have used reocurrently in my work, and it literally means "beyond life". The idea involves a form of higher sphere or dimension encompassing all others, that hints toward a connective principle, or what I have called before: "the programming language of nature". These appear to be basically some sort of Godheads, Deities or what I call "Intelligences".

Though I perceived these general themes and patterns (that I recognize from my general body of work,) the Thought Forms took on their own personality and I am reluctant to say that these meanings are ultimately what the series represents. The above descriptions are a rather intuitive and quick reading; what came to me as I proceeded to look at and name the pieces.
The series was drawn very loosely, using India Ink, Tea, and a blue tone derived from a mix of scraps from different antique writing-ink bottles. The spontaneous Thought Forms will be shown at the Mendelson Gallery in Pittsburgh from July 3rd until August 4th.

AA09

New Current In My Drawing Practice

Lately I have been interested in creating organic abstract drawings that are geometrically "justified", or precise. This is at least a technical consideration of my recent 2D works. I have often felt that good abstract art may not be merely an individual's expression of form and emotion, but rather a window into a concrete, probably profound reality that is just not as common, accessible, or easily describable. It is hard to say, though, that one idea necessarily cancels the other. Most likely, spontaneous and intuitive expressions do in fact provide a window into concrete aspects of reality. One of my favorite abstract artist is the painter Roberto Matta, and even thought he relied on automatism to create many of his works, he very much represents what I believe is powerful, "rooted" abstraction.

In this sense, I am interested in abstraction that finds its means in expanded or visionary reality, as may be experienced through inner travel, shamanism, mysticism and even through the lens of progressive, "post-post-modern" science. Subjects and notions such as those of invisible energy, sacred geometry, Life-force, Anima and biomorphism are strongly calling my attention at this time. Though I am just starting with this particular type of technical experimentation, I am very excited about it.

Also, I recently learned about the Voynich Manuscript, an old book written in a language/code which is still undeciphered and packed with enigmatic illustrations of unknown plants, charts and strange bath-organ-like contraptions. Somehow this mysterious object has quickly managed to spark an enormous amount of inspiration in me. And I am definitely not the only one. To site one example: artist, architect and designer Luigi Serafini spent 3 years of his life writing his Codex Seraphinianus, a work that resembles the V.M.S. or at the very least seems inspired by it.

So, with this long-winded introduction, I will now share a drawing I did today (sorry for the bad picture of it) called "Voynichus Conifralia", inspired by the Voynich Manuscript and the patterns of spiral phyllotaxis as elegantly displayed by coniferous plants. I hope this to be the first sloppy step in a drawing evolution I am seeking to experience.

"Voynichus Conifralia"

My work in general...

So as a good way to start I thought I should present a very general idea of my work, rather than specific categories. I work in a vast spectrum of mediums, techniques and materials, never letting my work fall for too long in a particular technical category. I have worked with mixed-media drawing and painting extensively, and recently I have added the third dimention by focusing on assemblage, installation and experimental ceramics. I find that each concept I am working with determines the medium I will use. I try to make a point to use the medium that I feel best describes the elements of my message.

Now I will share a slide show of general works...

My first post ever

WOW, I have officially entered the world of blogging.
I'll just be experimenting here...
bleep...bleep....bleep
bleep.... bleeeeeep!

yes. it works.

Now, I'm gonna link to flickr for no reason. YEY, I made a link! I haven't made a flicker account yet though, but I think I should.

OK, now, I will upload a photo. I can do all this thanks to David Pohl's blog workshop!

This is "The insect Maker", a piece I did in 2008, as part of a series of 12 Visionary Chambers. These are boxes that you view into through a magnifying lense (this is really the roughest description I could possibly give you, I know..). Here is also a video on Vimeo of the Insect Maker. I intend to really organize this blog so as to properly share a lot of my works and be able to present the work cohesively to you; there is so much of it!

But for now I will focus on my class blogs and current projects

I am now creating blogs for the classes I am teaching at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts: "Sacred Geometry" and "From Mud to Music". I feel fortunate that I have had the chance to teach these classes, since they are inspired by some of my personal and most passionate studies and explorations. I am very thankful to PCA for openly supporting and allowing for these rare and exiting classes to take place. Check the blogs out!