Dream images: an investigation into Shamanism's social belief system and its legacy for contemporary culture

Abstract

This research project involves the construction of a body of visual art works derived from an investigation of dream images in the phenomenon of Shamanism, with its associated social belief systems using images and forms located in my organic drawings and multimedia objects. The theoretical and conceptual framework for the studio research project is articulated in the form of the exegesis presented in conjunction with the supporting visual documentation at the completion of the program. My studio work is essentially dependent upon key elements of emotional association. My drawings are, in this sense, like my spirit, which combines actual dreams with the experience of the reality of everyday life . For me there are themes and abstract expressions of what we can call 'dream-logic'. One of the key roles in my relation ship to contemporary art is that of dealing with responses to the dream images that animate our lives. Through my work I hope to achieve a visual expression of the relationships between the experiences of dreaming and the deeper human condition in terms of my own personal experiences and the connections between these and the broader nature of the traditions of Shamanism. In spite of much current opinion scope for personal freedom in our contemporary world seems actually to have become ever more limited. Ritual outlets and direct contact with personal passions, which the shaman embodied and facilitated for others, have become increasingly closed, and humanity appears more and more imprisoned within the isolation of individual existence. As our freedom is ever more reduced and options for self expression become ever more lacking in substance, we are forced to rely ever more upon our selves for the personal acknowledgement that was once achieved tribally. One vital outlet is a dreaming - that free flowing of an unfettered imagination fed by the virtual, the electronic and the fantastic. In this realm we find the liberation of our identity and the expression of our soul. Much art over the previous century has addressed such concerns. Art could thus guide society towards a revived awareness of the past, reawakening the purity and spirituality of more traditional cultures.