This is a virtual art show I created during the pandemic that allowed me to use technology in a healing and inter-connecting way when isolation was the collective experience. It draws together the work I do as an artist, a psychotherapist, and shamanic practitioner. I envision this experience in a physical space incorporating visual art, ceremony, sound, and intention. I am contemplating on how to build on this and looking forward to bringing this to life with the right collaboration in a physical space.

Spiritual Grounding Through the 7 Directions: A Shamanic Journey of Sight and Sound

I sat and communed with this piece all year. My pieces often feature animal energies that typically visit me in dreams or in person. At one point I came into the studio and there was a sparrow perched comfortably and unmolested on the canvas, a being that I saw in the piece itself. Another time there was a hummingbird perched above it (I have pictures). I see avian and ocean beings in this piece, orca, raven/crow, and song bird. The energy of the land that I tap into looks a bit like Pacific Coastal Native Art. When viewers comment that I respond that we are tapping into the same energetic psychic space, the archetypal realm. This place is wild and those who call it home are of many species. We are immersed at all times in this spiritual energy, sentient consciousness. My work as an artist is to create pathways of connection. I aim to create those bridges assisting viewers to ascend into the collective consciousness field where language is cross-cultural, universal even.

PNW 2023

I did a lot of rehabbing canvases at this time. Many artists live in Portland, and finding a good canvas on the street is common. Each canvas has a life of its own and these already have a story. When I meet them, I interact with them and ask them what they require of me. Then, energetically and creatively I breathe new life into the piece. This piece collects a lot of the animal energies that surround me and I interact with here. In nature everything is communicating all of the time. Do we have the sensitivity to experience and interpret it. I see many beings, animal and anthropomorphic, coming together to take the form of a horse-head, or the knight on a chessboard. The piece speaks of a journey/travel and the calling up of bravery. There’s a reminder of friendship/allyship if you know where to look. And a witness, often in my work there is always a witness looking in.

A Portland Tale

In the midst of the COVID lockdowns and rampant terror chaos of the pandemic I found a discarded canvas on the street. It was dark, troubled, and in my eyes sought healing, rehabilitation. We all did. I brought it home and worked with it, got to know it, befriended it as I channeled in a new energy. There are many layers of process beneath this finished image. I see this as spirit beings walking among us, especially in the darkness. As they converge out of the chaos so do our destinies. This is a special piece to me and continues to communicate new information. It sits behind me as I work with clients therapeutically online. Clients see beyond me and are often pulled into the piece. It draws a lot of shadow up and out of the consciousness field while steeling up hope and determination.

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Michael Viola

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