The human Expereince:
Original Work & Musings
by katelyn Morris
Momento mori, oil on canvas 2023
The experience of truly feeling alive beckons us to grapple with the immanence of death–the one guarantee we are granted in this lifetime of uncertainties. This work is my take on a style of painting commemorating death that was created in classical antiquity and popularized in the medieval era. From Latin, memento mori translates to “remember death.”
A woman stands, torso revealed. On her bare skin shadow and light dance in dynamic interplay. She holds a skull that has flowers reaching out its crown–marigolds and lilacs. Widespread during Dia de Los Muertos, marigolds represent the fragility of life and guide our ancestors through the thinning veil into our homes and communities for this celebration of harvest, death, and remembrance. Lilacs grow abundantly for a short time each spring, bringing with them delightful smells and awe-inspiring gentle purple hues. They are reminiscent of my childhood, where I cherished the lilac bush growing outside of my family home. Often coinciding with my birthday, the spring bloom brought yearly renewal and joy, and reflection on the wheel of time turning. An ankh hangs across the skull’s forehead. The symbol is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph meaning “life”. Steeped in myth and mystery, the ankh is thought to represent the principles of eternal life, signifying the continuation of life beyond death of the physical body. A physical representation of masculine and feminine principles–the straight edges and the circular loop–the ankh points to the dual nature of time and matter, both linear and circular, particle and wave.
Embodied in this human form, we occupy such an intelligent design of matter and energy, space and time. We are individual, unique, and, at the same time, intrinsically connected to the web of life that exists around us, before us, beyond us. Our ancestors laid down paths of wisdom over lifetimes, so that, here and now, we may humbly journey forward, in the name of evolution, in the name of life. All around us, nature speaks to these secrets of eternal life. Within a single year, life and death bow to one another and make space for the ebbs and flows of growth and decay to nurture our goals and wash away our limitations. Thank you death for creating movement, for creating time. May we honor these cycles and seasons, laying down our own paths of wisdom for our children’s children’s children.
reclaiming the blood mysteries, oil on canvas 2022
Modeled in the style of early twentieth century German Expressionism, “Reclaiming the Blood Mysteries” is an ode to rediscovering the colorful depths of my womanhood. Indicative of my inner experience, a bleeding woman sits at the edge of a red river, her feet submerged. She is surrounded by grasses and trees that mirror the colors and aliveness present in her body. Two eyes closed, one eye open, the hand atop her head grounds her attention and energy downward. Connecting with the current of the red river, she realizes her kinship with the unbroken line of women that have given birth to her very existence–The Red Thread.
Much of our modern worldview is informed by the fast-paced hustle of capitalist society and the materialistic presuppositions of science and medicine. Reclaiming our connection to nature and the natural intelligence of the body is an act of holy rebellion. 1 in 5 girls ages 13-18 are unnecessarily prescribed hormonal birth control and are, therefore, severed from the divine birthright that is an intact menstrual cycle. Like so many other women I know, I spent many of my foundational fertile years disconnected from my body and its wisdom.
I’ve grown to believe that the body in its original wildness is the ideal home for the nourished soul. During my early twenties, returning to nature became an important theme in my life. Seeking healing, I shed layers of medically-induced trauma, coercive conditioning, and fear-based beliefs about my body. In doing so, I realized the psycho-spiritual damage I had incurred over the years I spent on hormonal birth control and made a change–reclaiming my natural rhythms.
In untamed femininity, there is freedom, power, sovereignty. Womb-bearers hold the capacity to birth new worlds, both physical and subtle. In her precious fertile years, a woman keeps time according to an infradian rhythm–a dynamic process of increasing and decreasing energy that waxes and wanes like the moon in regular 28-ish day cycles. The female hormonal physiology is a sacred design that supports women in creating and nurturing the very fabric of life.
Reclaiming the Blood Mysteries is a returning home. It is an ancient remembering. An integral part of my work in this world is walking with sisters, weaving the ways of the wild woman back into our hearts, homes, and communities.
Horology, oil on canvas 2022
Considering the concept of time orients me towards the mystery and numinosity of life. Within the sacred blueprint of life on earth, we have some pretty poignant methods of timekeeping thanks to the planetary system we call home. Over the course of our existence, humankind has created countless ways to measure and honor time passing–from elaborate designs of buildings and cities that align with the stars and constellations, to structures created specifically for the magic of solstices and equinoxes, to astronomical observatories, to our modern rendering of analog and digital clocks.
Inspired by the surrealist works of Salvador Dali, “Horology” is a portal into subconscious realms both deeply personal and highly symbolic. Created by combining dreamtime visions with activities that penetrate the subconscious, this painting is a dialogue on the intersection of time and space– the overlap of past, present, future in this eternally ongoing moment, here and now.
A magnificent sunset washes the desert landscape ablaze in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red, while silhouettes of cacti stand in timeless expressions of endurance and longevity. In the foreground, a being half-woman, half-cow rests upon an astrological natal wheel, encased in a doorway inscribed with twelve zodiac signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Vibrating, surrounded by white light, she is bisected by the line of the Midheaven or MC (Medium Coeli), which indicates an individual’s vocation and worldly contributions. Abstract lines move with intention throughout the piece, weaving the cow-woman and her timepiece into the greater rhythm of moments unfolding in the collective unconscious.
I’ve found the combined use of many timekeeping methods useful in managing a holistic perspective of my life. Honoring the 24 hour day, 7 day week keeps me grounded in the worldly rhythms of modern life. Flowing with the waxing and waning of the moon connects me with my creative rhythms as a woman. Seeking guidance from my natal chart and planetary transits anchors me into cosmic rhythms and the unique blueprint of my life energy.
As with many surrealist works, this piece begets more questions than answers. Who is this cow-woman creature? How did she arrive in this place? What is this midheaven portal revealing to her and through her? In my own natal chart, the midheaven line moves through the sign of taurus, represented by a bull. This cow woman also has associations to the Egyptian goddess, Hathor, who was a protector of women, goddess of love, fertility, dancing, music, and pleasure–all qualities that relate well to the earthly, sensual domain of Taurus. All food for thought as I danced with my subconscious in this portal of a painting, contemplating big questions. Who am I? What am I here to learn? What does life want from me?
AlChemy, OIl on Canvas 2022
When humans ritually gather, magic abounds. In expressionistic style, this painting captures a practice nearly as ancient as humankind itself–humans gathering around a fire. The fire is radiant, alive with movement and color. It illuminates the bystanders in glowing red hues and dominates the desert landscape as the sun sets and a crescent moon kisses the horizon. Abstract symbols emerge from the combustion of matter into raw energy, the palpable heat of transformation.
Fire– an element so necessary to our existence, imbued with mystery, power, reverence. In a physical sense, fire brings warmth, a way to cook, light. Beyond that, contemplation of fire brings us into direct contact with spiritual essence, the primal energy of transformation, alchemy.
This painting was inspired by my time at Burning Man–a one-of-a-kind creative event deeply entwined with the mystical and alchemical powers of fire. At the end of each summer, a city is constructed in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. At the center of the city rest two giant wooden structures: The Man and The Temple. During the week-long festival, thousands of people from all over the world gather to celebrate creativity, life, grief, joy, and wonder in and among these structures, which are burned down on the last nights of the event.
The intention and energy poured into these creations is certainly not lost in their destruction. Rather, it is transformed, alchemized–from matter to energy, from dense to subtle. The vibrant array of colors emanating from the flames are rich with story– the steadfastness of human ingenuity, the inevitability of grief, the beauty of raw elemental power, the impact of collaboration. In the creaking and crackling of wood I hear whispers about the joys of impermanence. Days, weeks, months of effort, time, energy, and work reduced to dust within moments. The ashes beckon us to dream onward and we begin again.
What a beautiful microcosm of the spiral of life itself. Birth and death, creation and destruction, expansion and contraction are all intricately woven into the fabric of life unfolding upon itself in eternal space and infinite time. Here we exist– incarnate, alive, breathing, creating– for such a short moment, before, we too, return to dust. As a child I remember wondering often “What is the purpose of life?” Along my journey of contemplation, I’ve embodied different answers: Achievement? Accolades? A steady job? Happiness and good health? Staring into those towers of flames I’ve gained new perspective. Contributing and bearing witness to creativity for creativity's sake nourishes my humanness. It evokes reverence and acceptance for the inevitable impermanence of everything physical and reminds me that the joy is in the journey.
Growing, Mixed Media Sculpture 2022
Human. Woman. Student. Lover. Friend. What remains when we strip away our identities and consider essence? What defines this humanness, really? This human experience is illusory, say the great sages, yet our physicality seems to be one of the most relevant matters of our lifetime. The body and its processes dictate the rhythm of life as we know it.
There’s much more to the body than initially meets the eye. Living within a materialist society, it's necessary to sift through systems of belief that tell us that the body is a conglomeration of simple parts that can be reduced to their basic functions–like cogs in a machine. What kinds of paradigms open up when we consider the body holistically, like interconnected and communicating parts of an intelligent ecosystem?
“Growing” venerates the female form, in her raw simple beauty, and showcases a glimpse into the hidden yet fundamental energy system that constitutes our being. The figure sits cross legged, dried flowers bloom from her body, filling the space that ought to be her head. Along her midline, the Sanskrit symbols of the first five chakras shimmer with ancient and timeless wisdom. From bottom to top they are: the root chakra, Muldhara; the sacral chakra, Svadhisthana; the solar plexus chakra, Manipura; the heart chakra, Anahata; and the throat chakra, Vissudha. Unaloams– ancient buddhist and hindu symbols representing the path of life–move down her arms spiraling atop her hands.
The sacred design of our bodies and energy systems connect all humans in a rich network of growth and evolution. Different cultures and peoples have named and classified the body and its energy fields in countless ways. In yogic thought, the subtle body exists within and surrounding the physical body and consists, in part, of energy centers called chakras. These energy centers develop chronologically over the course of a single human lifetime, as well as evolve collectively over the course of generations and decades.
Muladhara, our root chakra, activates in infancy as we establish a sense of security in the world. We attune to our families and ground into a sense of home. Svadhisthana, our sacral chakra, develops throughout early childhood as we form relationships outside of our families. Here we begin to explore emotion, creativity, and sexuality. Manipura, our solar plexus chakra, governs our relationship to ourselves and comes online during our teenage years as we explore our free will and independent values. Anahata, our heart chakra, blossoms during young adulthood. We strengthen relationships and community bonds here when we tap into the flow of compassion and harness the power of love. Vishuddha, our throat chakra, expands throughout adulthood as we are guided beyond ourselves into vocation, a spiritual path, or purpose.
Collectively, in the 21st century, human beings are strengthening their capacity to live compassionately, awakening to the importance of caring for one another and caring for the earth– beautiful heart chakra inclinations. People all around me are becoming empowered and inspired to live out their purposes and serve one another, expanding into radiant throat chakra territory. Individually and collaboratively, we are growing.
Embodying the light, mixed media sculpture 2023
Imagined out of the grief and heaviness of recent global unrest, “Embodying the Light” is an exploration of the endurance of the human spirit and the role of the individual in planetary ecology. In this sculpture, a pair of hands extend upward, palms outstretched, simultaneously receiving and radiating the light of a candle. This project was born from deep moments of meditation, contemplating “what can i really do about any of this war and division?” In the midst of overwhelming news reports and social media platforms inundated with real-time opinions and public commentary, I wondered often about how an individual could really make any kind of impact in the grand scheme of worldwide events.
Within each of us exists the animating light of awareness, a spark of life. Tending to this inner fire is the work of a lifetime amidst the myriad of distractions, violence, fear and propaganda. In strengthening a connection to spiritual energy, I believe we build the resilience necessary to be a radiant force of love and kindness. The light of consciousness that animates us is lit from the great light of the source of all things. It is within us and beyond us, at the same time. With our hearts open and hands outstretched to receive, we may learn to tap into this fire that never tires.
Living from love and kindness generates greater impact than we may first imagine. Quantum theory is beginning to catch up with the information spiritual masters have known for millenium–we are intricately connected beyond the boundaries of space and time and exchange vibrations through the quantum field! In his book Becoming Supernatural Joe Dispenza discusses Peace-Gathering Projects conducted over the past few decades across the planet where meditators gather to generate feelings of peace, unity, and oneness. These projects repeatedly demonstrate a reduction in war and violence by an average of 70 percent. How incredible people were able to collect evidence supporting the power of individuals to “influence and create nonlocal, measurable effects on peace and global coherence.”
Radiating the light of creation, god, source, oneness feels at once organic, empowering, humbling, awe-inspiring. Treating other humans with kindness in my day to day life is one of my favorite spiritual practices. In doing so, I’ve felt cracked open with compassion towards all parties in conflict, tempered by the grace of honoring all life. In service of the good of all beings, I practice holding the light, containing the light, calling the light into all the dark places I encounter. In prayer of a more beautiful, safe, caring world, I am learning to embody the light.