The Sacred
and the
Prosaic

A new body of work, exploring random associations of potent products of nature and science together emerged as watercolours. Images of flowers and plants considered to have sacred, healing and hallucinogenic power were paired with low- and high-tech machine elements. These addressed existential concerns with the dichotomy of connectedness and disengagement. By setting up a prosaic reference between paired images I sought to harmonize the subjects as metaphors echoing the “displacing dimensions of life.” Considered complex chemical factories, hallucinogenic plants have been part of human experience for many millennia.  Their curative power administered mostly by shamans in ceremonial rites have been significant in aiding to shape the history of pre-industrialized cultures as well as maintaining a spiritual life-line in communication with both gods and the environment. But as primitive cultures moved from hunting and gathering to agricultural pastoralism and finally to industrialization, there occurred a loss of a deep appreciation for psychoactive plants and their sacred use, and as well a depreciation for the bond critical to our civilization.