2016 Mexican Dreams

From a very young age I’ve been afraid of flying, plagued by the notion of being trapped in a vessel in the sky. Then, on a recent flight to Los Angeles on our way to Mexico, our pilot announced that he was turning the plane around. There was a bomb threat.

I should have been terrified, but as I turned to my wife beside me, a strange calmness settled over me, close to euphoria. I thought: if we perish, it will happen in one split second without any drawn-out pain or suffering, and I would die next to my one true love.

Luckily the threat was a hoax, the plane landed in Brisbane safely, and we took off again that night. Of course I’m thankful to be alive and telling this tale.

I feel like this experience has given me a greater understanding of life and death and how they run as parallel forces – which was timely, as we were heading to Mexico, a country that so beautifully and openly celebrates life and death.

I visited several shaman and healers while away and when I returned home, I experienced an outpouring of drawings like never before. I created over 100 images in a 72 hour period, in what felt like a heightened state of consciousness.

Now a fearless flyer, I returned to Mexico a few months later, to revisit the bright colours, textures, flower offerings, masks, skulls and antiquities from ancient times, which still play a significant role in their society.
Immersed in a foreign land and challenged by new cultural influences I delved into a world of mythological figures and narratives, questioning one’s own morality and the individuals desire to attain enlightenment.

Mexico Dream references ancient Mayan and Aztec artefacts sighted in the anthropology museums of Oaxaca, Puebla and Mexico city. Spiritual healers I visited on the outskirts of Oaxaca and the indigenous people of San Cristobal’s elaborate textiles and folk stories.