The inspiration came to me as I was unpacking a box of masks...a cherished collection of my Mother's that I inherited on her passing. The masks "spoke" to me in a way, asking to be photographed. In a sense, this series offered me a unique way to stay connected with her spirit.
The "Transcendance" project draws conceptually from traditions of Shamanism and the Trance Dance experience. Through the ages, spiritual dancing has been embraced by cultures across the globe as a means to transcend our physical dimensions and connect with the Spirit world. Intuitive body movement and controlled breathing take the dancer on an inner voyage to a state of "trance." In this state of consciousness, past, present, and future converge and a deeper "evolutionary self" can emerge.
For the Shaman, the soul lives forever. Spirit and ancestry are one - an eternally evolving line of genetic connection and wisdom. To symbolize this connection, some native tribes don ritualistic masks. The mask becomes an instrument of communication with the spirit of their ancestors...a link bringing the past into the present.
These "Transcendance" photographs integrate imagery from both trance dancing and native tribal rituals, suggesting they are similar, intersecting paths.
