John Dyer is the first artist to paint the Yawanawá's tribal spirits from the Amazon. The painting depicts how the first Shaman, who became mortal, shared a gateway to the spirit world with his tribe through the Ayahuasca vine. By drinking Ayahuasca the tribe connects to their ancestors. Featured in the new book about John Dyer & retrospective exhibition.

"This painting captures so much about the Rainforest that I know and understand, but in the context of one of the most fundamental and historic stories of the Yawanawá tribe. The Shaman is buried in the rainforest and from his energy new life emerges, in the form of medicinal plants. These plants allow the tribe to reconnect to the Shaman and this story of the cycle of energy underpins the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It is in so many ways a painting of balance and I have featured the Yawanawá tribe at the centre of my painting as they rejoice in this energy that comes from the rainforest. Tribes all over the Amazon know of Ayahuasca and have a shared knowledge of this even though this knowledge is not from direct contact with each other. The knowledge comes through the spirits." John Dyer

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The painting is featured in the book 'Painting the Colours of the World' by Kate Dinn.

Discover John Dyer's Rainforest Art Amazon Indian Paintings