Dream Friends
1985
by Eric Whollem
mixed media on paper
21" x 15"
Collection of the artist
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST
Concow Maidu Influences in Modern Abstraction
When I lived at Chichi Te, or Black Earth Village, up on the
Mooretown Ridge in Feather Falls, California, my dreams
were often filled with Indian cultural motifs. I would dream
of Indian dances with people in full regalia. I dreamed of
flying with a small she bear. I dreamed of caves filled with
pictographic paintings rendered in earth paints.
The culture of the Concow Maidu Indians, among whom I
had been living there on the old rancheria, is based on
Dream. In the old days, the KUKSU DREAM SOCIETY was
very active. This was the basis of religion, and of the social
order.
The painting, 'Dream Friends' is a pictorial representation
of the dream world in which I had become involved. In
the upper right hand corner of the painting is a window
through which I had experienced the sort of dream
phenomena mentioned above.
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Readers interestd in my posts on DREAMING should see:
My posts about the MAIDU INDIANS can be accessed here:
My FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTIONS can be found here:
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