To the casual observer, the 40-piece collection of paintings appear out of the psychedelic '60s, with vivid colors, disturbing visuals and hallucinogenic imagery.
It's only after you learn their collective back story that the paintings take on deeper meaning and a timeless quality.
"They reflect a rich tapestry of a historical narrative," said Robert Sirko,
Sirko is behind the eye-catching exhibit, "Inner Visions: Sacred Plants, Art and Spirituality," displayed through April 5 at the Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University. On Wednesday, the museum is hosting a day-long symposium to accompany the exhibit, featuring world-renowned authorities on sacred plants, ancient rituals and why they still matter in the 21st century.
"This exhibit offers a broader understanding of a different culture's indigenous beliefs, but in a contemporary setting," said Sirko, who's been at VU for more than a quarter century. "It's more than just appreciating a painting. It implores viewers to go beyond simple reflection."
Three years ago, while surfing the Internet, Sirko stumbled onto the work of Pablo Amaringo, a South American shaman and artist. He then stumbled onto a book written by anthropologist Luis Eduardo Luna titled, "Ayahuasca Visions," featuring Amaringo's genre-changing artwork.
The artwork focuses on the aftereffects of ayahuasca (pronounced eye-a-wauska), a tropical vine native to the Amazon region, noted for its hallucinogenic properties. For centuries, the natives have been ingesting it as a beverage to ritually tap into the divine.
Sirkohas yet to try the "strange brew" but he's fascinated by the rituals behind it and its related artwork afterward. The shamans, artists and spiritualists who use the "magic potion" must wait until its effects fade away before trying to capture their visions on canvas.
"Under its spell, you can't even hold a paintbrush," said Gregg Hertzlieb, the museum's curator and director.
The artists who have used ayahuasca create similar themes and images after taking it, tapping into indigenous mythologies and altered states of mind.
"It's not recreational in any sense, and it's not a fun trip of any kind," Sirko said. "It's a healing and spiritual ritual and these visionary experiences are not guaranteed. It takes a certain kind of soul."
Sirko has sat for lengths of time in front of the paintings to immerse himself in their visual power. It's not about casual observance, but about introspective imagery. "I came to a different presence of mind," he said afterward.
The musician known as Sting, from the former rock group Police, is known for trying ayahuasca and prompting the single-most powerful religious experience he has ever had, Sirko noted.
For eons, many religions and cultures have used various altered states to tap into a higher consciousness, whether it's through fasting, sleep deprivation or natural plants. In Christianity, it's been called "ecstatic revelation."
"Early Christian writings are filled with reports of dreams, visions and revelations that an anthropologist would identify as experiences had in an alternate state of consciousness," writes Richard DeMaris, a professor of theology at VU, in the exhibit's catalog that accompanies the exhibit.
Hertzlieb and the Brauer Museum have always been a local conduit to explore the religious impact in art, as illustrated in this exhibit. As DeMaris notes, "The artwork … may initially strike viewers as exotic and foreign, but there are familiar points of departure for engaging and understanding it."
When Sirko first contacted Luna to praise his book, Luna replied a couple of months later, to Sirko's surprise. After a few conversations, Sirko proposed the idea of an exhibit at VU showcasing Amaringo's work of visionary art. He hopes the exhibit will broaden the understanding of religious traditions and cultural beliefs, as well as the very nature of art.
Amaringo, who died in 2009, wrote about his enduring work, "The spirits don't talk, but express themselves through images."
Luna writes in the exhibit's catalog, "Since the advent of human consciousness, we have been drawn simultaneously towards the external and internal world."
Luna operates a research center in Brazil called Wasiwaska, for the study of psycho-integrator plants, visionary art and consciousness. He invites artists, intellectuals and mathematicians to his center, some who will be on hand at VU during Wednesday's day-long symposium.
Much of Luna's work centers around ayahuasca, its effects, its meaning, its possibilities.
"It's kind of like a Pandora's Box when you take it," said Hertzlieb, who admitted the costly exhibit was a "wallet breaker" for the museum. "But it's important we pursue exhibits that bridge the past and present and change our narrative about art."
The world-renowned guests of panelists for the symposium include Rebecca Bailey, William Richards, Rick Harlow, Dennis McKenna, Anderson Debernardi and Luna, curator of this exhibit.
"Our present world shows many signs of deterioration and is seemingly on the verge of economic, political and ecological collapse," Sirko said. "History demonstrates that often times it is the artist as the first responder, who alerts us to atrocity and crisis, hence leading us to a different way of thinking or motivation."
For the casual observer, like me and possibly you, Hertzlieb puts things in perspective in a language everyone can easily understand.
"It's a mind expander in every way," Hertzlieb said.