Narrative

Where the landscape was more complex, the shaman helped to adapt his tribe or clan to handle the complexity of life there. Stories were told of creation, and myth and legends appear with a host of art accompanying them. The artwork that appears here, from the aborigines of Australia depicts various

My Fathers Dreaming by Paddy Carlton, 100x76cm.

animals by an aura showing the Dreamtime, the aboriginal description of the sea of consciousness around us. It shows the auras reaching out and touching each other, the connections between living entities.
Similarly this piece from North America implies knowledge, not merely of the spirits, but of the complexity of their make up; animals are shown in greater detail and with internal structure.

 

 

Totem Pole from the northwest region of Canada.

 

Harsher landscapes meant more complexity coupled with survival issues. Celtic knots for example, produce a feeling of community within me. Each line folds around itself and its neighbours and is accompanied by stories of gods with complex familial relationships. When one tries to sort out the weaving lines and separate out the twists one is taking part in a mental exercise, designed to encourage the sort of headspace required to survive in colder temperate areas.