I’ve begun work on a new series of paintings based on themes of magic. Given that the act of creation is, in itself, a magical act, it feels right to explore these ideas through paint.
Each piece will draw inspiration from a famous (or infamous?) magical text – beginning with The Book of Abramelin.
The Abramelin is a very involved, 18 month ritual, after which the mage reportedly gains the ability to speak with their guardian angel. It’s so involved, in fact, that you basically need to withdraw from society and eschew all forms of pleasure or fun, that I think it would generally be impossible to pull off in the modern world. You would need a trust fund, Oh! And you need to have a home with a dirt floor and balcony. It’s very specific regarding the kind of place you need to live if you do the ritual. Anyway, you’d basically need to be independently wealthy and particularly antisocial to be able to pull this thing off. Aleister Crowley is said to have done it twice.
Here’s a work-in-progress shot. A snake curling around a pink headboard, floating in airy space with a little bit of alternate dimension opening up beneath. The mundane and the extraordinary meet and entangle:
Still missing various key elements and details, but it’s a start. And hopefully it will take less time to complete than the ritual it’s inspired by.