THE HIEROPHANT/ a visionary painting made from earth pigments, a symbolist work incorporating elements from Tarot

                                                   The Hierophant

                                                   1976

                                                   by Eric Whollem

                                                   earth paints in vinyl emulsion on panel

                                                   Collection of the artist.

                                                     Copyright by the artist.

A Visionary Image of the Hierophant

TAROT SYMBOLISM

After a trip to the ocean in Santa Cruz, California,

in 1976, I painted this work depicting the triple-

crowned Hierophant.

The dark thistle represents malignancies in my own

being. The dove represents healing and release.

Utilziing paints made from nature had a strong healing

influence on me. My early works were often filled with

the usual tortured emotions of youth. This is an example

of homeopathic alchemical medicine: the transmutation

of the base into the sublime.

The blue pigment at the Hierophant's mouth was taken

from a lump of copper ore. The bright yellow is from

ore I found at Mt. Shasta, California. Some of the dull

ochre colors in the painting are also from Shasta, but

are made from volcanic pumice.

Paul Foster Case's book on Tarot was the source of

inspiration for me back in the 1970's. The Hierophant

is one of the Major Arcanum.

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Abstract art, alchemy, Mt. Shasta, visionary art

Figurative abstraction.

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