Years ago you helped the famous visionary artist Alex Grey set up his wonderful Chapel of Sacred Mirrors space in New York City. What was this experience like for you?
I met Alex and his wife Allyson in 2003 at the Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York where they were leading artists in an exploration of visionary art techniques. They were immensely supportive and generous with everyone at the workshop. It was a surprise to me, as well as an honour, when they asked a few of us to help them with the set-up of an incredible space in New York City featuring, at its heart, a series of 21 artworks by Alex, examining the mind, body and spirit in rich detail. I was thrilled to participate in some very hands-on ways - working on the decorative frames for the paintings and reproducing some of Allyson's angelic alphabets along the ceiling frieze.
The chapel has since moved to upstate New York where the original vision for CoSM continues and evolves as a sanctuary for seeing ourselves, the world and our cosmos as reflections of the Divine.
It was this experience that cemented for me the idea that the visionary path in Art was indeed the only way to go. I had spent much of my life producing commercial art including illustrating board books for Disney and Fisher-Price as well as creating massive trompe l'oeil confections, scrims and cartouches for private clients and businesses. But beneath it all was the constant pull in my heart towards a more private expression of my own vision - borrowing from fantastic, surreal and symbolist art.
In 2007 I met the Maltese visionary artist and founder of The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art, Laurence Caruana. Some years later I would study with him at a Mischteknik intensive at an eco-village in Italy called Torri Superiore. There, I met a host of incredible artists and new talent fresh on the scene. I was especially impressed with the work of Maura Holden, Daniel Mirante, Amanda Sage, Carrie Ann Baade and A. Andrew Gonzalez - who were all clearly rooted in the visionary and sacred art tradition, but interpreting their visions quite individualistically. It was also in Italy that I met the very great personal friend of Salvador Dali, the Fantastic Realist painter Ernst Fuchs! Not only did I meet him, but I also had the great pleasure and honour to have my art critiqued by the Master! It was also pretty cool to dine with Ernst Fuchs and engage in casual table-talk in the evening before he began his sojourn back home to Vienna. It was a very special moment for me, certainly! I'd encourage your readers to seek out these names on the internet for a wonderful visual surprise!
Since landing on these shores you have created a number of murals in Malta, participated in several Malta Comic Con editions, contributed gothic and symbolist artworks to The Bieganski Exhibition and Art Festival in Valletta last year and now you are experimenting with Soul Art paintings... what is your current experiment about?
Well, I suppose it all derives from my perennial interest in Consciousness studies wedded to the creative expression of my thoughts around the subject.
Consciousness is a fascinating but elusive phenomenon; it is impossible to specify what it is, what it does or why it has evolved. But to most philosophers the word "consciousness" connotes the relationship between the mind and the world. To the spiritually-minded it frequently connotes the mind and God, or the relationship between the mind and the deeper truths behind apparent reality that are thought to be more fundamental than the physical world. My Soul Art paintings are an invitation to explore these deeper realities. Since I have been both a life-long experiencer and researcher of non-ordinary states of consciousness, this lends an extramundane, visionary, numinous quality to my experiments in creating Spirit & Psychic Art, Shamanic & Soul Portraits and various other types of Portal Art. I am attempting to use the power of art to connect with the non-physical dimension and to communicate with information that is stored outside the human body. It is the transformative power of art that is able to connect us through time and through space. It sounds like magic, I know, but in a very real sense all art is magic! As the great Alan Moore said: "Art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images to achieve changes in consciousness. And I believe that this is why an artist or a writer is the closest thing in the contemporary world that you are likely to see to a Shaman."
For anyone who wishes to explore this with me, I invite you to contact me at the Art Temple Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Art Temple: Integrating the Spiritual with the Material through Art.
Why do you view Art as Meditation?
Thomas Merton wrote: "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." Making art can help us centre ourselves between worlds - both the quiet unmoved centre of our souls and the external world of action and decisions in which we find ourselves merged daily. As artists we can sometimes fall into action with a brush, a pen, camera and even a tablet and at the same time stay mindful and listen for what direction feels right. Witnessing and observing our Self through the marks we make on paper, canvas, in clay or on a screen can be a self-reflective practice, or mindful observation. We can see through our art making how we see the world. Art making can be a meditation practice that helps us focus and quiet the mind.
When we sink into the creative process we can experience feeling connected - a sense of oneness with the activity, deep joy or peace, but also distraction and sometimes even urgency and panic. In art meditation, art making, just as in regular meditation, we can compose ourselves through difficult emotional states and thoughts. Art as meditation can help us to stay calm in the face of chaos and deepen our ability to be with whatever is present. People talk about meditation-in-action, as opposed to sitting meditation, which means "staying present while acting in the world". Art meditation is an example of meditation in action. Doodling, painting, working in clay, on the loom or wheel or tablet would be examples of action meditation.
You have hosted one Art Temple Discussion so far... was it a success and when will you be hosting the next one?
It was indeed a success and I was happy to know that a number of artists, some of whom I'd met for the first time at this initial discussion on Art as Meditation, were quite eager to engage in conversation about these things. There were some well-considered thoughts offered up, borne out of close observation and personal rituals around the role of keen attentiveness to Life through Art. Henry Miller had once written: "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." The resounding cry from the guests was for "more of these evenings!" and I must say, I am happy to oblige, as the creative input and sharing feeds my soul as well!
The next Art Temple Discussion will be held in late August. Our topic will be that of Portals: Art as a Gateway to Other Realms. Art is connected to "invisible worlds" - more so, Art is one of the best ways to make those worlds universally accessible. We will be exploring Tibetan Thangka paintings, Mandalas, Sigils, Spirit Guide Portraits and other Portal Art. Of course it was Aldous Huxley who said: "There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors of perception." I believe it is the role of artists themselves to serve as those doors of perception.
What do you hope to achieve with these creative conversations?
I am personally trying to encourage conversations and ideas around art that do not only concentrate on "monetising" art. I believe visual artists, writers, musicians, and all creatives should be fairly remunerated for their work but I also want to encourage artists to remember that, indeed, "beauty will save the world" and that Art has transformative and spiritual power. I believe that incorporating the reality of this sacred aspect of Art into our daily work-a-day lives is something that all of us creatives should remember and honour!
To that end may I direct you to my friend Alex Grey's TEDxMaui 2013 talk on the Mission of Art. Please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_YJToyOp_4
Are your talks open to the public and how can one attend?
It is best to like my page, Art Temple: Integrating the Spiritual with the Material through Art, so that I can let you know when the next event is taking place. Then one just has to RSVP at the event page on Facebook. One need not be an artist to attend, but a sincere interest in art is recommended.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/Art Temple: Integrating the Spiritual with the Material through Art for further information