_The Dance beyond the Veil_ is a diptych featuring acrylic paint, collaged pattern paper, vellum paper and charcoal. In this painting, I wanted to explore the moment where we are confronted with spirits as they enter our world. The veil is pulled back revealing figures as they emerge into our space through the separation of dark and light. The larger scale and repetition confront us with the reality that we are never alone. Alternating layers of thick and think paint, combined with areas of transparency mixed with areas of opacity, where faces come into focus from layers of paint and collage. As I work with divination to speak to spirits, different messages and different expressions come into view. This painting speaks to their presence among us.

The Dance Beyond the Veil

In _Remember Me,_ I have experimented with ideas of showing the buildup of communal energy in one location over a period of time. Using paint as well as charcoal, the figures around the tree are depicted as faint memories, residual energy of figures who have come to this place to say a prayer and to speak to the Gods. The figure to the left belongs both in our world and in the past and is depicted not as an intact being, but a faded memory, moving both in and out of reality. I seek to show these areas of thin space, where there is an overlap of time, past and present. People seek out these locations of spiritual energy, of natural energy for a variety of reasons. My figures are memories of those visitors. Shadows throughout the painting on the rocks and on the ground serve to connect the idea of passing of time. The tree is filled with the ribbons revealing evidence of past visitors to this space. On the large stone in the front left, shows the marks of time from ancient artists who carved a symbol of the spiral, an artifact of time and a marker for the belief of past connected to the present, a never-ending path. 

Remember Me

Nature is interpreted through memory and imagination, reminding one of the mysteries of nature and how in stillness and contemplation we can glimpse other worlds and connect with the divine feminine. In the painting, _Silent Observer_ (Figure 2.), acrylic on canvas, I evoke and summon memories of myth, spirits and the power of communal prayer and energy. The seated figure on the lower right appears again, a memory of a spirit that appears in my visions. The repetition of the image of a tree in my works speaks to the mysteries of nature and the locations where individuals come to pray and make offerings to nature gods. Gnarled tree roots twist up deosil dissolving into lively tree spirits who have been invoked by those who visit the ancient sites, adding to the layered communal energy in these sacred spaces. Three faceless forms push upward from their subterranean world merging with ghosts standing together next to a lone figure who venerates an ancient fairy tree. The visitor brings gifts, says his prayer, and thanks the gods in a sacred rite adding to the layers of history and magic along with thousands of other wishes left behind. Transparent layers of acrylic paint float on top and around the work suggesting the transparent veil that both reveal and obscure these sacred spaces.

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Nikki Rakov

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