spirit

Kokopelli /  by kelly heaton

Kokopelli, 2018. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 15" x 11"

Kokopelli, 2018. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 15" x 11"

I have a mysterious relationship with the spirit Kokopelli. Six years ago, I had a series of dreams in which I saw his iconic figure: a hunchbacked spirit playing the flute and tumbling around in somersaults. I also observed that he had rays of energy coming out of his back and head, sort of like a hedgehog or an armadillo reflecting sunlight. I didn't have any waking history with Kokopelli, so it was strange to "meet" him in a dream. From time to time, he pops up when I'm not expecting him -- this time, adopting the form of a circuit in the desert. This painting depicts two astable multivibrators and a 555 timer that are daisy-chained to generate sound through a piezo disk. Initially, I didn't have an overall form in mind for the circuit. I drew it organically, staying faithful to the electrical connections, because I enjoy the nerdy brain-teaser and the process of discovering shapes in artistic circuitry. Anyway, Kokopelli appeared ... and of course he did! Kokopelli is an electrical being who plays music, similar to my other sound-generating circuits. He also heralds the beginning of Spring, so maybe winter in Virginia is nearly over. What a sign of good luck all ways around.

spirit world: resurrection /  by kelly heaton

Top row, left to right: full negative of the Shroud of Turin; Gulliver's Travels theme park in Japan (abandoned); K. Heaton's portrait of Jesus Christ (detail); Guido Galetti's Christ of the Abyss.

Bottom row, left to right: film still from Jean Cocteau's Orphee; Goya's Will She Rise Again?; The Infant Krishna Floating on the Cosmic Ocean; abandoned power plant in Belgium (photo: Matthias Haker)

spirit: coyote on the horizon /  by kelly heaton

Knight of pentacles, a messenger for matters of security; coyote, trickster and instigator of change that you are better to accept than fight against; Olive Oatman, pioneer who was captured and sold to the Mohave during the 1850s

fascinating: madrid codex /  by kelly heaton

The Madrid Codex (also known as the Tro-Cortesianus Codex)[1] is one of three surviving pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic Period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 900–1521 AD) -- Wikipedia