# Art Exhibition: “Initiatory Visions” September 11, 2024 The CSWR is delighted to host an art exhibition featuring the work of a Peruvian artist and shaman Randy Chung Gonzales. The artwork will be on display through December 19, 2024. Please enjoy these samples from the exhibit, and be sure to visit the CSWR to see the full gallery. ### Feminine spirit with connection to sacred plants ![A line drawing of a feminine spirit with sacred plant elements](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_03.jpg?itok=AOoFagOv) ### The travels of the “yakuruna” \[water being\], healer through water ![A line drawing of a yakuruna (water being) paddling through water in a canoe](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_08.jpg?itok=z9RCO6Q_) ### A woman curandera \[healer\] with the spirit of the condor ![A line drawing of a woman holding a plant with her tongue](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_06_0.jpg?itok=czHpmRuI) ### The "madre" \[mother/spirit\] of the moon ![A line drawing of a woman holding a crescent moon](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_23_0.jpg?itok=vnMIuNIK) ### Portal of the Sacred Forest \[selva\] ![A line drawing of interwoven animals and plants](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_22.jpg?itok=PJz3Mfxw) ### The spirit of the forest playing music for the moon ![A line drawing of a reclined person playing a musical horn](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_20_0.jpg?itok=ZoTI01kK) ### Spirit enchanting the moon with its melody ![A line drawing of a bird-like figure playing a musical horn and connected to a crescent moon by ribbons](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_19.jpg?itok=rcENce6a) ### The sacred tree with the spirit of the eagle ![A line drawing of a tree with an eye in the center](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_18_0.jpg?itok=87bre74a) ### The snakes’ dance ![A line-drawing of a four-armed figure holding instruments with a snake atop its head](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_17_0.jpg?itok=IMxZl5dN) ### The guardian of the ayahuasca vine ![A line drawing of a figure holding a vine](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_15.jpg?itok=gZaf13rM) ### Love ritual under the water ![A line drawing of two figures with music motifs](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_13.jpg?itok=zChnEtXn) ### The tree that has been cut down continues to nourish life ![A line drawing of a figure growing out of a tree stump nursing a four-legged figure](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_12.jpg?itok=PzeGy1xd) ### The flight of the spirit ![A line drawing of a coyote atop an eagle](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_25.jpg?itok=EJotpkuP) ### The messenger of the sun ![A line drawing of a figure holding a staff from which hangs the sun](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2024-09/Randy_Chung_Gonzales_10.jpg?itok=r6X5hcsj) arrow\_back arrow\_forward ## Artist’s Statement “My art changed dramatically in 2016 after I accompanied anthropologist Frédérique Apffel-Marglin to an ayahuasca ceremony led by a local shaman. Although I had no intention or desire to become a healer, I was transformed through initiation by spirits or discarnate beings, resulting in a surprising and intensive experience occurring over almost four years. During that time, my art changed from painting on canvas with colored oil paints to drawings on paper with a black felt-tip pen. It emerges from somewhere unbeknownst to me, coming directly from my fingers without first becoming conscious.” ## About the Artist Randy Chung Gonzales is the director of Asociación Centro Sachamama (ACS), a nonprofit dedicated to biocultural regeneration in Lamas, San Martin, Peru. Its sister organization, Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration (SCBR), was founded in 2009 by anthropologist Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, PhD, and operates in Cambridge, MA. Chung Gonzales also directs Ampikuk, an ecological center in the forest just outside of Lamas, dedicated to the Vegetalista healing tradition. A self-trained architect and visual artist from Lamas, in the upper Amazon of Peru, he has exhibited his work in the Alliance Française in Trujillo, Peru; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and at LIS, a Vegetalista healing center in Areal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. See also:- [ Art ](/topic-tags/art)