A:
As you may have surmised from looking at the works, my art is an attempt to bring out in drawing my visions from entheogenic experiences. Ever since my first major entheogenic journey (which are always via Tryptamines, either mushrooms or Ayahuasca), Ive felt an enormous push in a certain direction for the aesthetics of my artwork. The visions I saw were so beautiful that I almost had no choice but to try and draw them, I felt like a conduit for the stuff to come out. It became a constant meditation for me to do my best to recall and draw what I saw, which, as you may know, is very difficult with the visions being so state bounded. The art which I now have on my site are what I was able to muster after years of this process.

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As to the dakini-esque figures in my drawings, they are the types of beings I always encounter on my strong entheogenic journeys. It took me a while to accept them as “beings” because at first I resisted them in that state. They were so fierce, mischievous, and enveloping that I did not want to look at them. But slowly I was somewhat able to endure their presence, which was when they would give me lessons, particularly about the feminine character of nature. It did not strike me at first, but when I went back to my Hindu roots I noticed that the forms of the beings I saw in the Tryptamine spaces very much resembled the forms of female figures carved and sculpted on Hindu temples, like those at Khajuraho, Mahabalipuram and such. I do not know if this resemblance is because I contain the Hindu archetypal female forms in my head or if there is another connection, but it certainly was there. It was then that I really began to make these feminine figures the main aspect of my artwork.

As for the Rishi, I figured I would balance out the series with a few male characters since I had done several female figures. A Brahmarishi, as one is has knowledge of the “Brahmand” or the inner and outer cosmos, seemed an apt masculine figure.

Q : What is the most remarkable journey you have undergone with tryptamines ?

A : I have had several experiences with tryptamines, including psilocybin mushrooms and dmt in the smoked form and in the oral form of Ayahuasca. I would say that all of them have been remarkable and transformative. Only the high dose experiences have allowed me to encounter the female entities though, and they are the same on psilocybin and dmt. Again I do not think I can pick out one as the most remarkable, but I can briefly describe one of the experiences which seems relevant to the art we are talking about.

This was an experience with an Ayahuasca analogue, and quickly after ingesting the dmt portion of the brew, I was thrust into the familiar tryptamine space, akin to my artwork (but of course not uni-dimensional rather multidimensional). At the peak of the experience, I was beholding an enormous female dakini-esque form, her body constructed of moving patterns of energy. The entire space was a motion of energy through this being, and I was…either caught in this energy flow or was the energy flow. This movement of energy went into the figure both in through the vagina and the lungs, and coalesced in the womb. The energy then grew into another entity, which I suppose I could call “me,” and then came out of the figure back through the vagina and the lungs. This pattern then continued over and over again, and I had no choice but to ride the vision. I can only assume that this peak experience was the sacrament’s way of showing me an aspect, perhaps the most important aspect of the feminine energy of nature, which is the continuity of life, and which manifested in the archetypal humanoid form so that I can recognize it as such. It was maddeningly intense, fantastic, and enlightening.

Q : The backgrounds of your art seem to be almost making love to their dakini subjects. At first I considered it a simple webwork, but upon further study it revealed a whole host of subtle entities. Is this the wider quantum field of consciousness from which form manifests and is influenced ?

A : That’s a neat way to describe it! One thing I do want to mention about the artwork, and specifically the backgrounds, is the reason I chose to hand draw them. I have professionally been a digital artist, and so am quite adept in generating digital images. When I first began this endeavor of trying to bring out through art my visions, I made them digitally. I would generate fractal patterns and create humanoid forms with them. But somehow they were not satisfying, and I realized, upon closer inspection of the tryptamine visions, that this was because even though the visions appear fractal-esque, they have a strong organic quality to them. The fractals in those visions seem alive, and were distinct from computer generated fractals. It was due to this reason that I began to hand draw them, because it seemed to me that the natural motion of the human hand inherently contains the organic-ness of nature.

The structure of this series of artwork is my attempt to best resemble the structure of the tryptamine space which I encounter. When I enter that space, it is a vast dome like place with writhing animate patterns, morphing, and merging into each other. Then as the experience peaks, these patterns form the beings. I would say Daniel that this is, as you say, showing the manifesting of form from the unformed field of life that permeates everywhere, the Nirguna Brahman becoming the Saguna Brahman, the word becoming flesh, and such primal metaphors.

Q : What use do you think psychedelics & entheogens may hold for the contemporary artist ?

A : I think that the rediscovery of the ancient human plant relationship is very important for not just the contemporary artist but for the contemporary humankind. They are the tools to access the spirituality that exists not in human created cultures and religions but in organic nature. They allow us to access the grander intelligence of which our intelligence is a part.

For artists I think it’s an invaluable tool of creativity. As I said, ever since I had my first entheogenic experience I have felt my art to get an incredible coherency around the attempt to render those visions. From what I have seen of the other members in the visionary art community, I feel it is the most creative art being generated in the contemporary art world. Art that is fueled by the visions from the psychedelic inner space I think will pave the way for the images that are to be the metaphors of the future (that is, hoping that humanity will proceed into a positive future).