Overview

It must be noted that this is quite a sketchy appraisal of the shamanic cultures that have inhabited the planet. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the deportation of criminals and religious zealots to Australia and North America respectively and the Spanish massacres of the Inca and Maya, and then much later the expansion of the British Empire, Capitalism and Commercialism to India, China and Japan, much of the Shamanic culture has disappeared underground. Pockets, of course, remain in isolated places and archaeological evidence still exists, however traditions of shamanism have carried on in the midst of Western culture almost invisibly. Some of this knowledge has seeped out into the public consciousness, although whether by design or through subconscious methods, it is not always possible to say. Recently these traditions have resurfaced and some contemporary artists now affirm shamanic intent in their work. I would like next to focus on a couple of artists who I believe have used shamanic energies within their work. Specifically, Pablo Picasso and Andy Goldsworthy. Comparing and contrasting the feelings and energies that they have sent out into the Universe and the methodologies that each have used.