Song Weaving

Are We Telepathic?

"Song Weaving." This piece is deeply rooted in the rich traditions of the Shipibo Tribe of the Amazon Rainforest and their profound connection to the ayahuasca medicine. I've always believed in the power of vision. "Create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture as if it were already true." This quote resonates deeply with me and my work.

Background:

The Shipibo Tribe is renowned for their psychedelic textiles. What many people don’t know is that these textiles are actually musical. The intricate designs are a visual representation of the medicine songs of the shamans, known as Icaros. These magical and healing Shipibo songs are the Woven Songs, inspired by the powerful ayahuasca medicine.

The weaving process interprets the Shipibo songs (Icaros) into geometric patterns. This is done in a collective, almost telepathic manner.  The Shipibo women weave these patterns as a form of communication and healing, translating the Icaros into visual forms that embody their cultural and spiritual heritage. This weaving from sound is analogous to creating reality with the power of imagination.

Inspiration and Creation Process:

Ayahuasca ceremonies inspire the creation of this symbol, the vision is within a circle or a sphere, divided into a lower part (the physical realm, and an upper part the hallucinated realm, the figure in the centre is weaving the reality of the physical by interpreting the visions experienced inside her head.

In this drawing, a Shipibo woman is using a Chacruna plant (the plant that contains DMT in the ayahuasca brew) to weave a Shipibo blanket that extends to create a woven landscape.

The blanket covers her lower body, offering a sense of protection and rooting her to the physical realm. At the same time, the Chacruna thread flows on and transforms to an anaconda serpent, wrapped around her neck, with a wide open mouth, producing a high-pitched sound (typical in a DMT experience). 

The weaver is deeply sounded by the patterns and frequencies produced by the DMT inside her head. Still her focus remains calmly centred around the act of making the next stitch.

Photographic studies and 3d models were used to produce the outlines of the drawing. The final Artwork is a digital vector file that was then transformed into a color sepperation.

Printing Process:

Once the artwork was complete, I used very fine silk screen printing meshes to bring it to life.

It is printed with five colors that are blacklight reactive and one glow in the dark layer. This allows every little line and symbol in the artwork to be as clear and crisp as possible, stretching the technical limits of silk screen printing. I take into account the "space between the lines," using the fabric's color as an integrated background. This reduces the thickness of each print, resulting in a comfortable and soft fashion item that feels great to wear.