Attempting to replicate the magic and sway that nature has over me in this way is somewhat inexplicable. To create these works the process has many levels and has taken many years. Firstly to document the journey into nature I have been shooting a photo essay for the past 18 years entitled Nature Studies, weather it be within the confines of an urban landscape like Brooklyn or deep inside ”the bush” of Malawi, it is the color, lines and texture of the reflected light that constantly moves through the veins of a leaf, an ancient piece of driftwood, or the intense powdered color of a lotus blossom that I wish to capture with the camera. It is an inspired moment that is fleeting and will only happen once. My Nature Studies are then printed onto metallic photo paper, there I use acrylic and mixed media to paint my archetypal profiles into the body of the prints. These archetypal profiles come from an ongoing series of Self-Studies that constantly recur in all of my works. In creating Self Studies and The Natural Mystic, I am using photography and painting to speak about the mystic of nature and its tangible impact on me as a healing, reflective and regenerative force; it is also my attempt at capturing and replicating the ephemeral magic of nature combined within the shadow of a face to illustrate natures inextricable ties to all of humanity.

To create my Mandals, I incorporate my own archetypal images by making reproductions of a selection of my most personal intuitive ink and charcoal drawings (created over the past 20 years) and in effect; re-painting them into the body of the mandala to create a rhythm or a mantra with an inevitable message. In my effort to mirror the ritual and therapeutic uses of the mandala in Buddhist, Hindu and Native American cultures throughout the centuries; I use my own archetypal images, the motion of repetitive form, the written word, color and texture to create a place of “One~ness” for meditation, expression and actualization within the confines of “the perfect circle” to mirror the beauty of the Supernova~ after its devastating explosion.

 

In these works I am appropriating photo reproductions of my paintings and photographs that I created on "The Journey"  in Africa and India .
I then use acrylic and mixed media to paint my archetypal profiles into the body of the prints.
These archetypal profiles come from an ongoing series of Self-Studies that constantly recur in all of my works.

THE JOURNEY / PULLED FROM THE JOURNALS 2010 ~ An assemblage of text and image in paintings , prints and works on paper

MY HIEROGLYPHIC 2006-2010 ~ Works on paper

My art is a kind of  hieroglyphic;  it is a story told through the free handed motion of my memory to make images that live and speak directly to the soul.
I created these mixed media paintings and works on paper entitled "The Journey" from memory,
driven by the desire to share and express a moment because each moment is truly memorable.
My works investigate the place of memory and emotion;
they are inspired by our earthly/spiritual human condition
and the recurring theme of life-death-life. It's all about The Journey.

All Rights Reserved Copyright Pamella Allen 2011