A small dive into ASTRAL PROJECTION

The idea for this painting had been lurking around for a while.
Sometimes it would come up in different forms as I was working on other ideas. I kept pushing it aside, thinking that I might not be able to do it.
When it finally came around again, I figured it would fit into this painting series.

Astral Projection, as defined by wikipedia, “is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a soul called an “astral body” that is separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it throughout the universe.”

The main difference between this and lucid dreaming,
is the ability to leave the body at will consciously.
A practice of the Nada yoga that had been used in meditation.

There were many visual interpretations of this, but I went in without looking at them. I wanted to get away from the approach of being so literal, reinterpret it as something of my own. It gave me a chance to experiment with some colour approaches I don’t normally use. There was this feeling of peace which I could describe as being underwater at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Water had been used in many religions as a spiritual metaphor for cleansing. This was not something I was consciously thinking about as it had been a very hot summer. The lock down in my city had been lifted, and everyone was going outside to the parks and the patio bars. So it was a good season to be thirsty.

This painting came rather smoothly and not so labor intensive as some others have been in the past. It was very relaxed and made me more interested in the subject. The turbulence of 2020 and the recent lock down made me appreciate the quieter moments.

In closing, I am reminded of a quote from Bruce Lee, during an interview in 1971 which resonated with me during this process.

“Be water my friend, be water.”

Victor Ramirez

SLEEP 12:12

January winter.

The past couple of nights seemed to blend in together when I began
working on SLEEP.

January was usually a cold dark month, and while this is nothing new, in a city still under lock down it felt worse.

For those abroad or in the US, Canada was late in getting the vaccine, so cities were forced to extend their restrictions longer. My city of Toronto ended up shutting down near the end of December.

I wasn’t sleeping very much, and restless for weeks.

Casually, I would notice my clock and see 12 :12 on it before going to bed.
It was something subtle that repeated for a few nights.

I continued to work on various small sketches but I wasn’t feeling much of a connection to what I was doing.

Some people are content with painting still life subjects or landscapes, I’m not one of those. My art supplies were also getting low and I couldn’t buy any more because of store closures.

The only thing that I felt interested in were shapes and form.
At the time I didn’t think very much of what I was producing.
There was a strong desire to get some practice in.

Many sketches were crumpled and thrown out before I settled in on a subject, SLEEP. There was an interest in doing a night scene since the lack of light seemed to dominate my existence. Creativity is a personal thing.

I had started painting as a need to explore ideas. But these were one of those moments where I was having my doubts. This path is not always smooth, as it can be difficult, strange, or erratic. I continued to move forward with it in spite of my reservations.

As I look back on this painting many months later,
I see, that the restlessness I was feeling was my creative intuition protecting my mind. The new lock down was having a detrimental impact on living.

It can be hard to see this when you’re in the middle of it. This inspired me to create a new series of paintings,which I’ve named SLEEPY WORLDS.

Toronto lock down restrictions were finally lifted on June 14, 2021.
The city has begun its reopening plan, and final vaccination shots are now underway.

Victor Ramirez

Under lockdown and SELF ANALYSIS

It has been a year since the Pandemic first arrived in 2020.
Most people were urged to stay in their homes, social distance from each other, wash their hands and wear a mask when you go outside.
We are all too familiar with this now, the new “reality”, and I am no different.

The painting Self Analysis developed quite mildly during this period.
I was finishing up some other projects previously when the Virus broke out.
The plans I had made previously began to change.
What was originally seen as a form of the Flu, began to take a sinister turn.
As like many, I was forced to work from home, and restrict my interaction with others. It was quite an adjustment.

The restriction of freedom in the name of public health was one I accepted.
But, one could not really be prepared for the length of time that this would occur.
The normal things I liked doing, eating out, shopping, and visiting friends and family were all taken away. The only communication I had of the outside world was through social media and television.
I was left only with my home and creativity.

The routine of being under lockdown was making me feel lethargic. Ironically, that is when it hit me, that the couch had become an island, and it was time to escape. The idea of fear and mental health started to resonate.

The fear was all around, from walking with my mask on and passing by people in the street, through to conversations I’ve had with others. Covid-19 had cast it’s shadow on world and each of us were dealing with it in our own way.

There was also the fear of expressing any opinions about it. The media had inundated everyone with information. The wearing of masks had become a political issue. What had become a health crisis has divided people. The mask for some had become a symbol of the oppression of freedom, and censorship. To others, it was been a lifeline of health, safety and survival. New Vaccines have come out to combat the virus.
The distribution to the public is still a contentious issue.

Here we still are in 2021, a moment in time uncertain when or if this will ever end.

Victor Ramirez

THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

The Mind, Body, and Unrest of SPIRIT

The last painting, SPIRIT, was something I had thought about in one form or another. The stresses of daily life were difficult enough for me to think more about my mental health. It was through this that I became interested in meditation, and started to look at the human body differently.
Slowly, my interest in this subject would escalate over time. First, with my painting THIRD EYE, and then learning about the other Chakras of the energy body. I had originally thought about doing a series of paintings about the Chakras, but it never happened. I would come across many books as inspiration, including an old documentary narrated by Leonard Nimoy called The Human Aura: Documentary on Mysterious phenomenon.

The Human aura was something I was interested in. But just maybe, this idea was too esoteric for people to appreciate. The light body was an abstract concept, giving me some freedom for artistic experimentation. When the last painting for the SPIRIT series came, this felt like it was the right path to explore. I wasn’t really interested in doing a painting about Death, well, the skull and bones version of it. It was during this time that someone in my family about would have health issues. What began as a painting became a personal struggle.

There were many moments where I would start and then stop, wiping off the surface of what I had painted from the canvas and starting over again. This continued repetitively for a couple of weeks. There was a part of me that began to think that I would not finish, or of stopping this completely. But I continued to proceed forward, to keep working as it was the only thing keeping me together. Eventually, the health issues would subside, and the recovery process would begin for them.

I eventually returned to finish my painting, determined to keep going, with renewed purpose and appreciation of life.

Victor Ramirez

TORONTO ART CRAWL – FEB. 9, 2020

Hello and Happy New Year.
I have an important announcement.

After many days of waiting behind the scenes, it is now Official.
The ART of VICTOR RAMIREZ will be at the TORONTO ART CRAWL Show,

    The event will take place on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Urban Exhibit Market. 1087 Queen Street West. 12 to 5PM.

I will be in attendance showcasing my Art prints, which are available for sale.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ArtofVictorRamirez?ref=hdr_shop_menu

For more information about this event, tickets can be found in these links.

https://www.facebook.com/events/350346152246868/

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/toronto-art-crawl-urban-exhibit-tickets-56579486768

https://www.torontoartcrawl.com/

Hope to see you there.
Victor Ramirez

*THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ*© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

Seeing THE SEANCE

The Seance was a painting I had been thinking about for a long while. My interest in this wasn’t for artistic purposes. I remember seeing the posters displayed at carnivals for mediums. They were either illustrated or photographed, and you weren’t sure if they were real or not. This was at a time before digital was around. As a kid, we are very impressionable and one would tend to wonder about these superstitions. When we become adults, we outgrow these things and dismiss them as fables and folklore.They are just immaterial and not tangible. Some may look at religion in the same way.

Recently, I had become curious about these things again. Modern life with it’s technology had become cold. Digital is now the excuse to the answer to everything.
I was considering going in a more Victorian direction using models or friends at first. As the idea developed further, and after speaking to a few people, it began to change. One person I knew remarked, “ No F#&*g Ouija boards.”(No argument from me.) It was apparent how uncomfortable this concept was. I am sure some people that I knew began to think I was becoming an Occultist. The other reason was that the drawings I had done previously seem to intuitively draw me in on their own. After a few false starts, and getting out of my own way, it slowly started to come together. I had to divide it up in three parts to keep all the details.

One influence was this old documentary from the BBC called, “Science and the Seance”. The history of the Seance and Spiritualism. You can watch here, broken into four parts.

The photography of the late 19th and the 20th century also continued to inspire me. The magical quality of these old photos really captured something. You can see them for yourself and decide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0HncGNBCqY

I had finished my painting after a long period of working in winter darkness. The process of creating this was both challenging and comforting, unlike some other projects I had done.

Whether you believe in it or not, a healthy amount of skepticism is fine to have. There are plenty of frauds claiming to be mediums. For the very few that are real, they are unassuming and go unnoticed. The world comes with many prejudices. These type of things were mysterious and interesting growing up when I was a boy. As an Adult, it is nice to know they still are.
Victor Ramirez

*THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ*© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

A Moment of EVIL

The origins of this painting began in late spring.

The weather was becoming humid and hot. Spring would slowly turn into Summer. I was feeling very uncomfortable on my daily traveling commute during this time. People on the subway were feeling very irritated as there was a lack of air-conditioning. I would be a witness to many pushes and shoves between commuters. There was a feeling all around that was uncaring and rude. It was something I was constantly ignoring, but not happy with. I just tried to immerse myself in other things but would always get a reminder in some shape or form. In the background, shootings and violence were on the rise in Toronto.

CityNews Toronto image

I was trying to work on something different to keep my mind off of things. But, I was struggling with the idea I wanted to do, or a composition at least. The heat was keeping me indoors with its humidity and I wasn’t feeling very clear about what I wanted. Then, a few small events occurred during the week that would shift my mood to that of disgust and anger. Whatever previous ideas I had originally, had evaporated.
I was angry, not in an outburst sort of way, but shimmering like a pot of boiling water about to spill over. It wasn’t something obvious or something directed at a specific person. I wanted to understand where my contempt was coming from and whether it was warranted. I didn’t want to be feeling this way, but ignoring it wasn’t helping.
I began to look into doing some research into these criminals, reading articles and listening to various taped interviews. The information collected from psychologists seemed to suggest various factors. The most common one was a dramatic event in their lives that happened, led them to this path. Some had embraced it and others appeared cold and unfeeling to what they had done.  No remorse or feeling in their reaction. There was a truth that was very ugly and much more disgusting. The actions and behavior of these individuals I do not condone.

Listening to these interviews made me think about how others interact with daily life. This idea of distortion and the perception of a disturbed individual became something I felt needed exploring. The hidden anguish was something more human, yet, felt very biblical to me. I came up with a drawing that was the view point of a distorted messiah. I  didn’t want to make it super violent because it would take away the point.  In some way, my choice not to create violent imagery was a subtle “middle” finger to everything that was going on.
When I reminisce about this painting, I feel as though I had anxiously overworked it. Perhaps, I could have pushed this concept much further. The heat and the humidity was a factor. Some things I might have done differently, from a technical point of view. For all its flaws, the energy in it is still there, simplicity, raw, and reflected the mood I was in. In that regard, I find it very appealing. Despite it all, I still feel very fortunate to get a finished painting out of this. So that is enough.
Victor Ramirez

*THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ*© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

Love in a LUCID DREAM

She kissed me slow and deep. There was a familiarity to it I couldn’t deny, like we had done this before. Images flashed in my mind, about her and I having a life together.
Sometimes, I would be older and she would be younger, or sometimes it was the reverse. Her hair color would change every time I would see her. First she was a brunette,  then it she was blonde, or strawberry red. No matter how she presented herself, I knew it was her. All of that were just costumes. She was very mischievous in that way, knowing all my thoughts before I did. When she spoke, I couldn’t hear her voice but only see her lips move as one would in a silent film. The kiss felt emotional, happy, and sad at the same time. Goodbye.

Then, I had awakened, paused for a moment, only to ask myself just what the hell I am doing here. It was a dream. It was only a Dream.

For the next few days life would resume as usual. There was a tint of sadness following the next few mornings, workdays, and evenings. I thought about her for a while, yet didn’t know her name. I went to life drawing class in the evening like I usually do. While concentrating on drawing the model, they were playing ambient music in the background. I asked the Moderator of the studio what CD was this. He told me it was a mix, and mentioned some band which I can’t recall. It made me think of my dream and I began to work on this painting.

Most of the time, I would be visiting the parks, going for walks. I didn’t want to lose that feeling, looking for the same type of colors and plants that I saw in the dream. The fall season had just started around this time. I kept wondering who she was, but my memory kept coming up with nothing. In hindsight, I believe I was meant to forget, but she left  just enough for me to remember. The intensity of these feelings eventually faded over time. For a short while though, the dream felt more real than life over here. She was real enough for me to create this painting. I hope I see her again.

Victor Ramirez

THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

Fragility in FAITH

This article is one I have been procrastinating on for some time, to speak about this painting, FAITH. There are times when real life and the creative life intersect each other. Those are rare moments, and often when they do, it is always in a unique frame of context, and sometimes not by choice. I don’t have the intention to create art in this manner. But once in a while, a situation like this does happen. FAITH was a painting that came from tragic circumstances.

Last year, there was a death in my family. It was very sudden, and we were all in a period of grieving. I won’t go into specifics, out of respect and privacy for relatives. This article is not about that, but about how this painting came to be. The events of this tragedy affected me, and the months that followed were very difficult. During this time, the most menial tasks of daily routine felt grim. Everything felt long and I was going through the motions, getting through the day, minutes at a time. When someone dies, it affects yourself and all the people around you who knew them. We all grieve, express it in many different ways, and sometimes, it’s not so obvious to everyone.

Most of this period was spent speaking to friends and family, grateful for their love, support, and the conversations we shared. These discussions lasted for many weeks, and some were also going through similar circumstances. I don’t remember an exact moment when I started working on art again. However, I do remember that it took a long time, with many missteps, stops and starts before getting to something. The theme of “bad things happen to good people” seemed to dominate my mood. It was all I could think of, and I knew that it was something I had to do, before I could move on.  I knew that things would never be the same.

It was out of this theme that I began to think about faith, and what it means to believe. I went through some sketches before I settled on one that spoke to me.

The process of putting this together felt very sombre , cathartic. Artists sometimes speak about their work as a form of therapy, a way to heal themselves. Writing this made me realize we tend to take these skills for granted. Creativity is not limited to making pictures. It is so much more than that. It heals the heart and the soul, for all alike. This has never felt more close to me.

Victor Ramirez

*THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ*© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com

Inbetween HAUNTED SPACES

Haunted Spaces was the fifth of a series of paintings called SPIRIT.

I was interested in doing a painting of the interior of a room with a fireplace. I have always felt drawn to fireplaces, the way they warm and light up a room. When this came up, it was an opportunity to do so.

The idea of a haunted room had been brewing for a while, but it had constantly been put aside for various reasons. During this time, I had been getting into looking at old furniture and decor. I really wanted to make a painting about a room and space.

A spiritual residual haunting of a person’s home is an intriguing subject. When someone’s spiritual energy is attached to a home, it comes from a violent traumatic death or emotional experience. The event is so painful and frightening that the energy imprints itself onto the home and the space inside. The emotional energy left behind can sometimes repeat the event over and over again like a film recorded loop. In some other cases, it can have its own separate, negative distorted consciousness, behaving in destructive ways.

There are many stories and documentation about hauntings, not all can be verified or denied. Some of the most famous hauntings like the Winchester hauntings and the Amity Horror house stand out to me.

Oddly enough, I was more focused on the whole design aspect of the room, particularly the fireplace. It wasn’t until I started looking at mirrors that I began to think about ghosts. The aspect of looking into the mirror and having the room reflect back at us, as the viewer, made me rethink how distorted things can be, both in life, and in death. Everything seemed to converge together after this realization.

I chose a large canvas for this, which measured ’36 X 48’ inches, almost life sized. The larger size felt right and I really wanted that feeling of space. The whole period of working on this painting felt very obsessive. I would paint every chance I would get, often cancelling other plans, and not going out at all on the weekends. There was this feeling of anxiousness to get it done, afraid that if I didn’t, I would lose it.

When it was finished, I felt a great heaviness was lifted and relieved. By then, I was left wondering if the painting I had done, had always been there. There are paintings you work to achieve, and then there are ones that create themselves. Haunted spaces was one that I felt was born into this world, and I was just here along for the ride.

Victor Ramirez

*THE ART OF VICTOR RAMIREZ*© All written articles and visual images are the copyright and creation of Victor H. Ramirez-vichramirez2015, and not affiliated with rhometechdesign.com