Paint into Words
Michael Robinson
[RS Gallery] • Alex Grey is a visionary artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art inspired by entheogens and mystical experiences. His oeuvre spans a variety of forms including performance art, installation art, sculpture, and painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute, sits on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, and is the Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson are the co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) – a not-for-profit institution supporting Visionary Culture in New York City.
MR: What is your personal mantra?
AG: The great Tibetan teacher Namkhai Norbu introduced me to the Dzogchen Buddhist mantra "Ah," which one visualizes as a white letter in your heart and identifies with as primordial awareness outside of time and boundless in expanse. Also, I like the seed syllables of all the Buddhas, "Om Ah Hung," which you visualize in your head as a white Om, your neck as a red Ah, and your heart as a blue Hung. When synchronized with your breath as "vajra breathing" it helps affirm your own Buddha nature.
What does the role of Artist mean to you?
The Artist is a tiny reflection of the One Creative Spirit that
generates, and is, all realities. God creates the cosmos with love.
God is the creator of the unfinished masterpiece, "Time-Space
Continuum," which each of us helps co-create. The artist faces the blank canvas and invents new realities, and in a very tiny
microcosmic way, this reflects the macrocosm. The highest art aligns us with the "Divine Imagination," as Blake called it, and empowers our soul, catalyzing our path to becoming the greatest person we can be.
What is the driving force behind your creativity?
Love.
What transformative experiences have influenced your life and how has that manifested in your work?
My artwork is a way to share the transformative experiences I’ve had, so it would be better to look at my books or website to get a full idea, but I can say the coincidence of meeting my wife Allyson 33 years ago on the same night as my first LSD trip was the turning point for me. I would never have done the Sacred Mirrors without her to inspire them, and all the paintings celebrate our love and journey together.
How long does it take you on average to complete a piece of work, and do you ever do several pieces simultaneously?
I've been working for several years on the painting, "Net of Being;" two years on the "World Soul" sculpture; and one year each on "Cosmic Christ" and "Nature of Mind." Then there are paintings I do in one night, live painting events that last three to six hours. I try not to work on too many pieces at once, but that is part of the reason why "Net of Being" has taken so long.
Why should people check out your work?
Because my intention is to plant a seed of liberation in the
mindstream of the viewer.
How does your work affect Consciousness, and what are your views on the evolution of consciousness?
I've noticed various stages of receptivity to my art. The work
points to a mystic core of truth at the heart of all wisdom
traditions and affirms an integral universal spirituality. If you
have ever had a mystical experience you will understand my work
immediately – if not, it may take awhile.
The human species is evolving and waking up to our self-destructive bender called materialism and the twentieth century. Human evolution will allow access to dormant visionary physiology that allows us to see clearly, to see more easily when people are lying, and to recognize the common heart of love behind all our dualistic thoughts.
Kissing, 1983, oil on linen, 66 x 44 inches, used by permission of www.alexgrey.com
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Excellent!
Alex Grey's Art
Build the Chapel
On a trip to NYC last week, I finally made the pilgrimage to Alex Grey's Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), and had the opportunity to take a tour of the space guided by the artist himself. This was an amazingly enriching experience, to have such a powerful collection of paintings and sculptures explained in their multifaceted contexts -- as visions of personal transformation, as pieces in a series or larger work, and as tools for advancing human consciousness of the ineffable.
Before a crowd of nearly fifty people, delicately crammed in among the priceless wall-sized canvasses, Grey conveyed in words what I'd often felt emanating in spirit from his work -- a unifying, rapturous joy of being that strives to mirror the divine presence in each human. Among the rather large, diverse group that had magically gathered for the tour, I felt that buzzing unity of mind that one sometimes senses at arcane events like cult film screenings or underground raves. I realized that Grey's work is also something of a call to arms for the initiated.
At the close of the nearly two hour tour, he spoke of his latest "download," an architectural vision of a sacred temple. This revelatory transmission, confided Grey, is the most profound and wondrous he has ever received. It would be a place, set in natural beauty, where people could gather to make art, to commune with like-minded souls, to gather for events and stay the night -- a truly sacred space, and a new monument to God for our desperate times. The location is already chosen, he said, not far outside of NYC in an untarnished wilderness that he feels is a perfect spot to create his vision. The plans for this new project will be ceremonially unveiled in November. Speaking most clearly from the depths of his heart, Grey implored us, if we felt a connection to the art and its message (which we do!), to make a contribution to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, which will fund the project to build the temple.
In our accelerated time, I see an incredible need for a sacred place like Grey's vision to exist on earth -- a place where those of us who share certain ideals and beliefs might congregate, to commune and co-create a new reality for humankind. The current home of CoSM, in the heart of Manhattan, is facing the end of its lease in December of 2008, and the land he has picked out for the new Chapel is being scouted by developers. Still, it was obvious that the urgency in Grey's voice held something deeper that I think everyone here might appreciate. I felt distinctly that his vision might also be our own.
Next time you're in the City, I encourage you to stop by the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors and pay your respects.
Chapel Tour
Visionary
A true visionary... in every sense of that word.
Alex's work has always struck a deep chord in me. I first became exposed to his parallel universe of spirit art back in the 80's. To this day, I feel he remains one of a mere handful of artists who can really capture the ecstatic mystical vision and reveal it to all and sundry. It is fitting that he would want to build and decorate a temple.
The Taj Mahal meets The Alhambra at Angkor Wat... in Hyperspace!
That's an awesome looking