Kundalini

May, 1996
Oils on Masonite‍

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Written for the Out of the Ashes Show, North County Rec Center, January 2004

The work, of course, is not only done solo.

Pairing together is one way to raise kundalini – that mysterious and powerful serpent fire that rises along our spines. It is the wild green energy of Pan and the exposed vagina Sheila-na-gig of the Celts, or Shiva and Shakti of India. It is more than sexual energy. It is cleansing and healing. Working/playing/dancing with this energy, often in a sexual union of opposites, is to become one with Spirit – to become whole. To reach the stars. Essentially it is a spiritual search and process, which Eastern cultures call Tantra. It is a particularly potent sort of union, the knowledge of which has been cruelly buried in our culture and, thus in our bodies.

This painting was done in a fit of frustration with my own stagnated sexual energy. I have since come to recognize it as part of a deep longing for true connection. It is a dance I am only beginning to barely understand. My fingers with a paintbrush in them certainly know more than the rest of my body does.