Steemit Vision Quest - The Avatar and The City of God
The Avatar and The City of God
"The Avatar" is the visual externalization of the Freudian analogy for the Human Psyche. The Id, Ego, and Super-Ego are embodied in an energetically dynamic, bilaterally symmetric “all at onceness”.
“According to Freud's model of the psyche, the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories, the super-ego operates as a moral conscience, and the ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.” -https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
The Avatar is composed, much like Freud’s model, as a multifaceted experience of "all at once-ness"
Symbolic Decomposition
Bottom Left and Right - Identity
We see the corporeal delineation of a human face. Though it appears that there are two separate beings in context of the full image, I have meant them to symbolize 2 halves of a single entity unzipped down the center of the cranium. The psychedelics, especially the tryptamines, have a certain function wherein the identity complex of the intoxicated human is discarded much like a husk from a corncob. This experience can be terrifying for a novice and indeed pleasant for a seasoned veteran.
Bottom Center - Id
Id is driven by violent nature itself and is almost alien in appearance, signifying our detachment from our basest instinct. In Western Society we find little use for gut and hunches and yet they persist as a fail-safe should our experiment in civilization abort. Id is completely confident in his primal state and though neglected through our attempts at transcendence, he waits patiently for his moment in the sun, should one arise.
Center- Ego
This is the Avatar that the entirety of the piece is fixed upon. I have a great affinity with Hawks and Falcons. These most majestic birds of prey draw me into confident living. Balanced, focused, aware and with great vision, Ego as Avatar is the conduit of outward flowing hope manifest in decisive action. It is the modicum of discipline governing flight and fancy. Ego, in the context of the artwork, is not some out-of-control, rabid, power-monger but a focal point balancing the unfoldment of instinct and destiny. When I am lost in mind, in those moments of aimless wandering, it is the Hawk that reminds me that I am as much a native to this planet as he.
Top Center- Superego
Superego is moral conscience. Eyes fixed to Heaven this Aspect leads us beyond our dimwitted folly and worldly machinations.
To those who know my art but are not familiar with me as a person it may be startling to discover that I have a profound faith in Christ. I was not raised in a cult nor brow beaten by guilt. I found no solace in penance nor escape from shame in sackcloth and ash. Instead, my family let me experience and come to my own conclusions.
Growing up in privileged circumstances afforded me the opportunity to attend a great college or perhaps start a business after high school. As an act of decadent, adolescent rancor, I chose otherwise. My acquired spite for Western frivolity was quite ill-founded and way premature but we cannot change the past. I descended inward and journeyed across oceans in search of authenticity. I desired something real, marked by rites of passage, suffering, adventure and, dare I say, understanding. Something truly human.
I actively rejected celebrated Pastors posed in judgement on the authority of All Powerful God and found myself instead without boundary nor compass. I impugned the clergy and flailed in the depths of demon-haunted mushroom intoxication without direction and ever closer to the event horizon of destruction. I met alien overlords from the 8th dimension whose sole purpose is torture and I succumbed to temptation like it was my religion. I watched my then future ex-wife sexually ravaged by Lucifer and my deathwish brought my throat to the end of a steak knife in a Romanian Hostel. I shaped up for a time but had not reached my destination. Still, I descended the twisted staircase to Hades. It was only when I could no longer sleep for paranoia of my body being snatched and my soul stolen forever that I finally cried for help. Only after dangling in the jaws of Satan did I consider that I may have missed out on Love. In realizing that I had forsaken all that was wonderful did I desire the simplicity of gratitude and the graces of my delightful family that I had given away. And by only the Grace of God did the needs of my heart begin to resonate with a larger purpose.
Looking back on these trials, I realize now that what I really needed to know was that I was not alone. I can see that I was searching for the most primal understanding concerning loneliness. Through all of the darkness I pursued a Creator to assure me that I was not the center of the universe and to truly believe that death is not only reserved for my enemies. I needed to verify that life was dangerous and immediate and that violence wasn't something that happened to other people but was universally distributed like some kind of karmic electroshock therapy. I abused my mind and ravaged my sanity in order to create the circumstances for an emergent humanity and ultimately...Salvation. And so I stand here today, healed not of my own will. What I finally met within the depths of my psyche is something greater than fear, greater than death and greater than my self-centered devotions to Eros and Thanatos. To me It said "I Am". And for this I am eternally grateful.
Center Left and Right - Catalyst
The Serpent was a constant companion through the underworld. It served as both Tempter and Aegis, leading me into pain and then slithering in to fend off lesser demons and offer its cold comforts amidst chaos. I have great respect for the power of this ancient creature and learned much of its techniques and so I keep my distance nowadays. In the image above you will see the Hebraic "Call to the Pursuit of Justice" hovering like a binding spell over the reptile. This is a reminder that I no longer fear illusion and with awareness we may alter the course of our future history. Or perhaps it is fate and characteristic of our journey home.
Top Left and Right - The Winged Sun
This image came directly from a San Pedro journey. The Winged Sun's first glimmers appeared in Sumeria. It matured in Babylon with Ahura Mazda, and gracefully aged in Khemet (Ancient Egypt). It is a deeply profound symbol requesting its observer to consider the potential of awareness and spirit based growth. Often associated with the King as incarnation of Sun God, its potency wafts through all who gaze upon it. In my translation of my vision of it, the Winged Sun is encircled by dark, shifting matter. Like a puzzle, the cold surfaces lock into configurations of meaning and cast shadows accordingly. It is a reminder that the existence of light necessitates its opposite, for without darkness all would lack meaning. But it is the gravitas of life itself that attracts and fills the emptiness. This representation is of harmony and a key indicator of meaning within the fabric of reality.
If you appreciate this work you may obtain a Limited Edition, Signed Canvas or Paper Print here
https://elohprojects.com/eloh-projects-store/#!/Avatar/c/19192719/offset=0&sort=normal
Use Case
The Avatar and The City of God was originally commissioned by my good friend, Andrew Wasielewski. He gave me free reign and full control of the art with the solitary caveat that the image must translate to sublimated hoodies and t-shirts.
Below you will see the final product.
Obtain The Avatar Hoodies here
https://wazshop.co/collections/clothing/products/avatar-hoodie
And Tapestries Here
https://wazshop.co/collections/tapestries/products/avatar-tapestry-1
The Lenticular
Though this video is quite grainy after multiple downloads and transfers and what not (can't find my original) you can see The Avatar conjoined in Lenticular format with another piece that I made for Wazshop.co, called The Leap.
Obtain Avatar/The Leap Lenticular Transition Prints here
https://elohprojects.com/eloh-projects-store/#!/Avatar-The-Leap-Lenticular-Transition-Prints/c/23222091/offset=0&sort=normal
Well... If you made it this far, thank you kindly for bearing with me. I appreciate your interest and would love to chat with you in the comments if you have the time.
Check out Avatar's sister work, The Leap, and a write up of Psilocybin's impact on Creativity here
https://steemit.com/art/@elohprojects/the-leap-the-stoned-ape-theory-and-psilocybin-s-impact-on-creativity
As always, I appreciate your Upvotes and love to see you guys and gals Resteem my posts. I am super grateful for Steemit and all of you wonderful peoples that make this place so fascinating. Take good care of yourselves.
Kind Regards,
Sean
You are a magician
Haha. Thanks:)
Truly. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Your skill is what allows some of us not only to reflect on a deeper hidden layer of reality, but also to understand that these visionary states of consciousness are universal and a core part of the human experiences... You are able to capture and relate parts of our collective psyche that most of us are simply too dull to express in anything else than words; the least communicative forms of symbols available at our disposal
Your choice of form and color and the way you render your vision to us is an absolute gift to humanity... Commend yourself for your incredibly important work...
You are indeed a cartographer of consciousness... Your service to mankind is of paramount importance... Thank you for helping us to open our third eye and motivating us to improve ourselves and continue involving...
My grand father who was a pastor often said "God chooses the Ones he wants."
You have certainly been ordained with a great calling. Continue your work for all of our sakes.
Thank you.
(Dickride over)
@imp.unity That is perhaps one of the most profound compliments I have ever received. Though I do feel a sense of destiny I keep my vision in check nowadays. I have gone way out there with psilocybin induced messiah-complexes and alien agendas so I have reserved myself to allowing the world to give me feedback about how effective my art is. I keep my heart focused on God first and then perform the inspiration as it passes into me. Stay good and Thank You for your valuable time:) Talk to you again I'm sure.
Now that is more like the Hae-Joo, I know :) but your words can work wonders too!
Yea that's a good way to put it for sure!
I love the id and the ego and infact all of it, but the horns! Are they there for a particular reason? The textiles are amazing and your revelations are at once frightening and enlightening. You wear it well my friend.
I was drawn to examine your stoned monkey post because I had just been reading of McKenna's theory before coming here. You must take a look @perceptualflaws post yourself. Oddly enough I gave him the link to your last post after I read it, knowing he would appreciate the art of you and your friends.
This is insanely awesome
Duh!?
I assume you are meaning the dark-bluish horns in the center of the image just below the hawk? These are like symbols of fear. Its easy to spend time in the lower realms and in fact get comfortable there. From a distance, heaven appears guarded or blocked from view by dark ideas but the act of moving upward toward hope and freedom shows us that there is a lot of space to maneuver between our fears. Thank you for your compliments @ricia And I will have a look at @perceptualflaws :)
Thanks for getting back to me Sean, I really appreciate it. Actually it was the top centre in super ego I was referring to. There is an almost mother of pearl, shell like texture that I see is a pattern in your work. In this instance the 'shell' seems to form sets of ram-like horns branching from and surrounding the face and head. It is not that I find it offensive, more that I am curious as to it's meaning if there is a particular symbolism attached?
Ahh. Yes. I saw those more as bulbs of some sort. There appears to be a unique concrescence of matter that occurs when the light touches darkness, if that were possible. Mathematical signatures and fractal linguistics form the foundations of experience and, for some reason, organize into spheres and toroidal energy patterns as a matter of principle. This area is something like that... bubbles of nascent matter coalescing due to the existence of light within the void. The "horns" that appear at first are more of an abstracted depiction of Universal Law, like the building blocks of a subjective concept both literally and figuratively... I guess:)
There are probably better ways to visualize it and represent it but this was kind of where my skill level was at the time.
Amazing Sean - I am learning so much about art on steemit! Just been reading up on geometric fractals and mathematic signatures and algorithmic plotting ( I watched @allowisticartist do that yesterday) Love steemit! Thanks again, your skills are astonishing.
Thanks for sharing you're personal story here along with the art. I also came to Christ after experiencing a deep loneliness followed by a call for help. I have a very different relationship to Jesus and God then a lot of people. One thing he is is my protector from a lot of the crazy shit I fraternised with during reckless journeys into the psychedelic realm!
There's something so freeing from giving up your power and acknowledging the existence of something higher however you relate to it. I was bought up with a casual christian upbringing too so I think it was easier for me to come back to as an adult.
If you are interested my #introduceyourself has one of my early visionary works alongside some personal story. I'll be posting up more soon.
Looking forward to more posts like this.
Wow. That’s so nice to hear. I’m normally pretty hush hush about my faith because people are easily turned off by it. Especially people who talk a lot about open mindedness, funnily enough. I’m not shy about it I just like to provide a proper context. I can make strange, provocative images all day and as soon as I say I have a relationship with Jesus I’m accused of being brainwashed or incapable of thinking critically. Kind of annoying.
I can totally see critisism lile that coming from those who talk about being open minded... it is kind of ironic.
No need to be shy about anything really.
That was breath taking! I LOVE this: " Ego, in the context of the artwork, is not some out-of-control, rabid, power-monger but a focal point balancing the unfoldment of instinct and destiny. "
Too often "ego" is considered that bad part of us... that is not really any better than thinking ego is all of us.
Very true. I think there is way too much emphasis on ego and it’s dissolution altogether. Just live... Flow... Be:)
Beuatiful work. So many layers and sub-strata of meaning. I appriciate the addition of the hebrew lettering as a representation of an archeic origin nexus.
Awesome work here... Every part of it, immaculate... i'm quite sure you'd find my blogs interesting... If you can find time please drop by... Thank you. Your art work is stunning. Namaste.
Hi @paniopan. Thank you for your kind words. I traveled over yonder to have a look at your blog and gave you a follow. Will do some reading when I have a bit of time to settle down. Take good care and see you around.
Thank you... Very kind... Love and light.
Goosebumps on top of goosebumps!! Wow. This is a fascinating creation. I adore the central bird and all this animal represents to me: the big picture perspective, the upward pursuit of higher consciousness, the miracles held in every feather... Thank you for this phenomenal entry in the Steemit Vision Quest.
Well Thank You for hosting!!! I’m happy you appreciate the image @cabelindsay:)
Hot damn! This looks so good! Do you wear a lot of your own creations?
Yes. I usually receive a shipment or two of the designs I create. Always nice:)
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STOPAgain, thank you for sharing so deeply.
All of it resonates and excites me to keep pursuing the arts, especially the part about the serpent stirred something in me.
I have encountered many serpents, in dreams and visions, even long before I considered myself an artist. I've been swallowed and transported to other places, merged with their skin and taken to the underworld.
It is somewhat re-assuring to hear others story, as the terrain sometimes feels a bit slippery.
Sounds like you have had some experience with Ayahuasca. I’d love to hear more some time. I’ve had 4 journeys in Brazil. A long time ago but even so, I think about them several times a week. Was such a magical period. Things were very gnarly the first night. I thought a man was going to die. He was vomiting so much, paralyzed and blind, but we pulled him through. He took the potion again the next night like a champ.
It's been a major catalyst for my creativity. I wasn't painting or drawing much before, and i feel like it's helped me grow much faster. I'll do a writeup about it one day, it has really changed my life in an amazing way, and it still is.
Yeah I would be really interested to read your experiences. I love a bit of voyeurism into the psychedelic mindscape. It's most fascinating how the other dimension is alive itself and exists as an overarching, interpenetrating, experience-gifting organism.