Before beginning my project I knew that I wanted to do something that was related to psychotropic plants, and that’s how I ended up mainly focusing on ayahuasca art. Besides just looking at beautiful artwork I wanted to gain a better understand of what an ayahuasca experience is like and what these art pieces mean to the artist who created them. An ayahuasca experience is an extremely personal one so I think that the art that is developed from it reveals a lot about the artist at a very personal level. One of my favorite areas of research pertains to plants, and especially psychedelics. I love the mystery that the hold and the effects they have vary from person to person. I’m also very interested in shamanism and the role they play as spiritual guides for the individuals who want to under-go a spiritual quest.
In my research I first began to look into the main components of ayahuasca as well as where the plant come from and when it was first used. The Latin name for the ayahuasca vine is Banisteropsis caapi, meaning “vine of the soul”, and can be found in varies Amazonian regions. It’s mainly used in Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, and Brasil. The first Westerner to discover the plant was an English ethnobotanist named Richard Spruce. From then on people of than the indigenous cultures of the Amazonian region began to take interest in the vine and its effects. In preparation the ayahuasca vine must be boil with a type of plant that contains DMT (dimethlytriptamine), once ingested the ayahuasca (which is an MAOI inhibitor) allows the DMT to release in the brain which causes it’s psychedelic effects. From there I began to examine different experiences people/artists had with ayahuasca. I found that during this experience you are no longer at a conscious level, but a sub-concious level and that the experience people have are extremely real and life-changing. Then I began to look into how these life-altering visions are displayed in art. I read many interviews with visionary artists and learned that many pieces are direct illustrations of what one of their visions were like. One well-known visionary artist that I researched is Alex Grey, his artwork is amazing and very anatomically detailed. He first began to use this style after a vision he had where he was standing in front of a mirror and all of the sudden his whole body filled with light and he turned transparent. I found that all these artists shared similar motives behind their artwork. Each one felt that growing and learning from past experience is extremely important and that you can’t run away from your fears, its best just to face them. Also the relationship humans have with the Earth is commonly depicted in ayahuasca art.
If I were to continue this project I would want to go more in-depth of the shaman’s role and figure out exactly what it takes to become a master of the spirit world. Shamans have an intense relationship with plants which I think is phenomenal. They’re basically living Bontanical Encylopedias and a lot of their knowledge that has been passed down for years are being lost. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to travel to South America and possibly find some sort of project on the lines of preserving their skill and knowledge.
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