11 / Linen Painting: ‘The Shaman’

16/12/22

I see Kinfolk magazine as almost a baby sister to Cereal magazine, and though it isn’t my go-to I often check their website, social media, etc. As some of the photography is really inspiring. I found this stunning image (one on the left) and knew I’d love to use it for a reference for a painting. Although I’ve enjoyed experimenting with minimal abstract painting, I feel a need to paint subject matter more obviously related to my theme… When I saw this image I immediately thought of a shaman: the posture, expression, presence of animals, and almost androgynous look.

I’ve been fascinated by the role of the shaman since reading several books and realising every culture has a shaman figure: the African ‘sangoma’ (I learnt after reading Black Leopard, Red Wolf), ‘Mudang’ (무당) in Korea, etc. “The traditional shaman” David Abram writes in ‘Spell of the Sensuous’ – “acts as an intermediary between the human community and the larger ecological field, ensuring that there is appropriate flow of nourishment” between both human and non-human.

This notion of an entity neither belonging to the worlds of human or non-human and acting as an intermediary between them is a role I’m incredibly drawn too. I think perhaps because of a personal resonance.. and also considering the current environmental state of the world it’s a relevant concept. Interestingly, today we are seeing a resurgence of this idea of ‘the shaman’, the spiritual and the esoteric. However… (in my opinion) the authenticity behind the intention of researching these practices isn’t always pure, especially when it comes to social media where intention is almost always tied to the ego.

So I’d like to plan a painting that expresses my take on a traditional shaman. An androydynous figure that lives between worlds, slightly ghost-like… yet earthly.

I edited a deer skull onto the reference image as (though stereotypical) it’s true that shamans will often wear animal skins/skulls in order to connect/call upon animal spirits. I also wanted some kind of symbolism of life/death, so it had to be a skull rather than animal skin, or the presence of actual animals. I won’t include the butterflies for this reason as it’s too fairy-like…

In terms of colour palette I had a play with some greens, brown, reds… Though I feel I won’t be sure on colour until I start painting.

The reason I usually stay clear of portraiture/the human body is because I’m awful at getting proportions right. But rather than let that stop me like it has the entire time I’ve been studying art, I decided to just spend hours sketching until I got it right.

It was a test of patience and required a little help from my friend/classmate Vicky, but eventually I got a rough sketch I was happy with.