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ART & MUSIC

Spirit of the Rainforest

These are the paintings that artists John Dyer and Nixiwaka Yawanawá completed together during the Spirit of the Rainforest chapter in 2015 at the Eden Project and in 2019 in the Amazon rainforest.

This is art we made in the Amazon...

John Dyer Painting. Spiritual Butterflies, Rio Gregório, Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"The power and beauty of water combined with the energy and spirituality of the tribe have inspired my painting. Spiritual butterflies fly across the rainforest which is painted with energetic brush marks and colours. The river is the source of life for the Yawanawá and this painting is a celebration of their deep connection to the rainforest." John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Awavana, Amazon Rainforest. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"Awavana means butterfly and my painting depicts the very spiritual shamanic pot in the centre of my painting. Energy radiates from the pot and is symbolised by the spiritual butterflies. Beneath the pot is water and our special medicine plant 'Uni' which is used for our ayahuasca ceremonies."Amazon Indian Nixiwaka Yawanawá

John Dyer Painting. The Sky Snake Ashuinka and Ground Snake Runua, Amazon Rainforest. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"I painted this painting surrounded by the Yawanawá's most spiritual plants in a sacred part of their rainforest. The painting depicts a shamanic pot with a spiritual butterfly emerging. On the ground is Runua the ground snake & in the canopy we can see the sky snake Ashuinka."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. The Sky Snake Ashuinka and Ground Snake Runua, Amazon Rainforest. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"A powerful painting that depicts how we work with the power of the ground & sky snake in our shamanic ceremonies. In the centre of my painting is a shamanic pot with the ayahuasca plant radiating energy. The snake is very spiritual & we work with the ground snake but we know there is also a sky snake, Ashuinka. If the sky snake sees you in the forest it will take you." Nixiwaka Yawanawá

John Dyer Painting. Yawanawá Tribal Ayahuasca Ceremony, Amazon Rainforest. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"This painting is of the ayahuasca ceremony I experienced with the Yawanawá tribe. A fire burns outside the 'shuhu' house. The shaman prepares ayahuasca which allows the tribe to visit the spirits. Members of the tribe line up to take ayahuasca and then sit quietly whilst other members of the tribe sing tribal songs. The evening is long-lasting until 3 am with lots of dancing, music and singing." John Dyer.

John Dyer Painting. Yawanawá Amazon Rainforest Tree House. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"Painted from an extraordinary rainforest treehouse in the Yawanawá village of Mutum. My painting depicts the magical moment a family of black-faced monkeys descended from the canopy. Butterflies, toucans, chickens and members of the tribe watch as the monkeys go to great the great explorer - Robin Hanbury-Tenison." John Dyer.

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. The Healing Shaman. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"My painting shows a shamanic prayer for an ill member of the tribe. The shaman prays into a shamanic pot. There are two pots shown in my painting and our sacred animal, the snake appears from one pot and then the other. All the energy is forming while the shaman prays and this energy heals the ill person." Amazon Indian Nixiwaka Yawanawá

John Dyer Painting. The Healing Shaman, Yawanawá Tribe, Amazon Rainforest. 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

"My painting, that I painted deep in the Amazon rainforest with the Yawanawá tribe, depicts a ceremony in which a shaman prays into a shamanic healing pot to help to heal an ill member of the tribe. The shamanic pot is shown by the negative space the snake creates in the centre of my painting. On the far side of the river, we see the shaman standing over the poorly person. Toucans call from the canopy, butterflies fly past and ants crawl on just about everything!" John Dyer

Original Painting by John Dyer. Yuxi Yuve Amazon Rainforest Water Spirit. Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe.

"The Water Spirit Yuxi Yuve has a real connection for me, she evokes not only the water cylcle of the rainforest but also has echoes of Mermaids, stories and Spirits in our own culture. Nixiwaka selected the Amazon plants around the waterfall at the Eden Project for us to work with so it was natural for me to create a circular composition with the waterfall forming Yuxi Yuve's hair. The Boa Constrictor features as the power of the rainforest. It is one of the most revered animals of the rainforest. I have included Amazon fish in the water and rainforest butterflies too. Many of the plant forms in the painting are painted from life using the plants at Eden as reference. My painting has a cyclical energy that echoes the natural cycle of life."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Yuxi Yuve - The Water Spirit of the Amazon Rainforest. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"The painting depicts the Spirit of Water who lives in the depths of the great rivers of the Rainforest. Yuxi Yuve is a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, down which water cascades, forging a link connecting the Spirit with all the rivers and everything that is supported in and by the water. She is the Lady of the Waters and is a powerful spirit that looks after all the living things, plants, animals and fish that inhabit the river. She appears in visions to the Yawanawá when they have a ceremony that invokes her force in order to teach them about the spiritual forces that live in the water. She connects the world of the river to the tribe showing its importance to their life as part of nature."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe. Amazon Rainforest. Original Painting by John Dyer. Kênê - At one with Nature. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"Body painting is a fundamental part of tribal culture. The Yawanawá use Paxiti (red annatto seeds) to create the paint they use. By using natural colour from the rainforest and by painting patterns derived from nature on each other’s bodies the tribe becomes one with nature as they sing and dance in their ceremonies. It was because of body painting that the Spirit of the Rainforest Project was possible as this gave Nixiwaka a natural eye and use of line for him to translate onto canvases and for him to inform my work."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Kênê - Body Painting. Amazon Rainforest Spirits. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"The Yawanawá people use body painting represented by the Kênê. Since time immemorial, we have used Kênê to celebrate traditional feasts and ceremonies and also within our daily life. When we paint our bodies we are gracing ourselves, staying beautiful and becoming protected from disease. The spirit of the Kênê lady appears in visions during Uni (Ayahuasca) ceremonies. We receive the paintings and practise these among the people of the tribe as a way of learning through the spiritual world."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Original Painting by John Dyer. Nawê. Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe. Amazon Rainforest. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"This painting captures a vision that Nixiwaka Yawanawá had during a tribal ceremony in the Amazon. Nixiwaka described to me how the two most powerful animals of the rainforest appeared, the Boa Constrictor and the Jaguar. These two spirit animals then merged into one animal that was the combination of both spirits. This then transformed into a tribal spirit that connected and exploded its energy to every part of the rainforest. By using a circular composition and by interconnecting the bold shapes and colours of the plants I hope I have created an energetic and vibrant rainforest image that pulls your focus towards the centre through the snake and Jaguar to the tribal ceremony that is taking place. The Amazon river flows in the background and the vine used in Ayahuasca grows throughout the painting. For me this is a very powerful image of the Spirit of the Rainforest."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Nawê. Amazon Rainforest Spirits. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

These paintings show the combining of the powerful Boa Constrictor and Jaguar. The animals are respected by the Yawanawá for their power and danger. Their combination is undertaken by two Shamans in a sacred ritual. This connection of the Shaman with nature and the Spiritual Universe evokes all the spirits of the forest and the animals, represented by the vision of joining these two powerful animals together. The ritual combines Uni (Ayahuasca) with Nawê made from the medicinal plant Tsunu. It is a sacred ritual which makes a connection through the Shaman, that creates a healing and protecting process for the tribe, the Rainforest, the Spiritual World that exists beyond our material world."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Original Painting by John Dyer. Rare - Spiritual rebirth. Amazon Rainforest Spirit Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe.

"The figure at the centre of my painting symbolises not only the spirit Vana but the Yawanawá themselves. The sacred plants feature in the painting alongside one of the most powerful animals in the rainforest, the Jaguar. The Jaguar symbolises power. The humming bird and Amazon butterflies create a biodiverse image which when combined with the amazing plant forms you find in the Amazon and at the Eden Project creates a feeling of shared energy and vitality. The Yawanawá tribe are the custodians of their piece of the Amazon and their energy and life is a natural part of the ecosystem. We all need to respect the careful balance of the rainforest and I hope through these paintings our thoughts and actions will be reborn."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Rare - Spiritual rebirth. Amazon Rainforest Spirit. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

This painting represents the spiritual rebirth of a person who experiences the Yawanawá initiation into becoming a Shaman. The ceremony begins with the root of Rare, a sacred plant considered by the Yawanawá to be the most powerful plant of the Rainforest. It invokes the spirit Vana who is considered to be the owner of all the plants and the most powerful spirit in the Rain - forest. The ceremony to become a Shaman involves the person in undertaking a diet where he abstains from speciﬁc things and focuses on his spirituality for a period that could be as long as six months, when he is alone in the Rainforest apart from being watched over by his Shaman mentor. The plants are the door to the spiritual world. The ceremony makes the connection with the spirits and the person is transformed into a spiritual being able to see visions, heal and guide the tribe as a Shaman."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Original Painting by John Dyer. The Creation of Uni (Ayahuasca). Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe. Amazon Rainforest. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"This painting captures so much about the Rainforest that I know and understand, but in the context of one of the most fundamental and historic stories of the Yawanawá tribe. The Shaman is buried in the rainforest and from his energy new life emerges, in the form of medicinal plants. These plants allow the tribe to reconnect to the Shaman and this story of the cycle of energy underpins the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It is in so many ways a painting of balance and I have featured the Yawanawá tribe at the centre of my painting as they rejoice in this energy that comes from the rainforest. Tribes all over the Amazon know of Ayahuasca and have a shared knowledge of this even though this knowledge is not from direct contact with each other. The knowledge comes through the spirits."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Creation of Uni (Ayahuasca) Amazon Rainforest. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"These paintings represent how death came to the world and was overcome through the discovery of the vine called Uni by the Yawanawá, and known by tribes all over the world as Ayahuasca. At one time people were not mortal. A bad spirit cursed a Shaman who became the first person to die and he was buried. Later his son had a dream in which his father came to him to say that he was still alive but in a different form. He asked that his son should, after a period of time, visit the place where he was buried and that he would find a plant. In his dream he was instructed by his father how to make a sacred drink using the plant. When his son returned to the burial ground he discovered a vine that had grown from all the joints of the Shaman’s body. Following the instructions he mixed the leaves (Ravante) with the root of the Uni and created the sacred drink which, in ceremonies that continue today, allows the tribe to connect with their ancestors in the Spirit world."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Vana. The Spirit of our shadows. Painting inspired by the Yawanawá Tribe. Amazon Rainforest. Original Painting by John Dyer. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"In British culture shadows are often used as ominous devices, but the realisation that the spirit of one’s own shadow is a protector and guardian angel is enlightening. The power of the spirit is indicated by the Boa Constrictors and I have painted with intense colours and contrasts to evoke the rainforest exploding with energy and light from the shadows. My Vana spirit sits at the centre of the composition radiating energy and protection. Rainforest butterflies, macaws and spiders are used throughout the painting. The energy that lives in us is the same energy that connects all living things and this energy radiates from the canvas."

John Dyer

Nixiwaka Yawanawá Painting. Vana - The Spirit of our Shadows. Amazon Rainforest Spirit. 100 x 100 cm acrylic on canvas

"The painting represents the very powerful Vana spirits. They are the guardian angels that protect us from bad things and as such are seen as the Spirit of our own shadow. Only the Shamans can see and talk to them in ceremonies which involve Ayahuasca, a sacred drink to the Yawanawá. The spirits guide the visions in the ceremonies so that they can find their personal Vana. My painting is the vision of my Aunt, a Shaman, which I originally drew from her description. It is therefore a unique, powerful & emotional image."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá

Yuxi Yuve, the Amazon Water Spirit. Procreate iPad drawing

"Yuxi Yuve is one of the Yawanawá's rainforest spirits. She appears to them as a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, down which water cascades, forging a link connecting the Spirit with all the rivers and the entire water cycle of the rainforest. Yuxi Yuve is a very powerful spirit who looks after all the living things. She appears in visions to the Yawanawa when they have a ceremony that invokes her force in order to teach them about the spiritual forces that live in the water. Yuxi Yuve connects the river to the tribe showing its importance to their life as part of nature."

John Dyer

Yuxi Yuve, the Amazon Water Spirit. Procreate iPad drawing

A video of the making of this digital iPad drawing using the Procreate app by John Dyer.

Yawanawá Tribal Woman. Procreate iPad drawing

Procreate digital iPad drawing by John Dyer

Yawanawá Tribal Ceremony. Procreate iPad drawing

"This Procreate painting was made at night (impossible with traditional media) and shows a Yawanawá tribal ceremony I attended where the shaman prepares Ayahuasca, or Uni as the Yawanawá call it, which is a tribal medicine, that members of the tribe take during the ceremony. It is rather like communion at church and the tribe line up at a table where the shaman gives each member a cup full of the 'spiritual medicine' to drink. The tribe sing and then dance and the ceremony went on until 3am in the morning. Many members of the tribe will experience direct contact with the spirits of the rainforest during the ceremony and the first spiritual animal that appears is often the snake. I never participate but simply watch as I strongly believe that it should only be members of the tribe that take part in such sacred ceremonies. The tribe also used this ceremony to welcome me and the team to the tribe and to thank us for inspiring them with our art and music."

John Dyer

Yawanawá Tribal Ceremony

A video of the making of this digital iPad drawing using the Procreate app by John Dyer.

Now it's your turn...

Encourage your children to make an exceptional piece of art inspired by the Amazon, something they will be proud of and they can exhibit at home on the wall or fridge door for years and to the world to bear witness to what we all stand to lose on the WorldGallery.online

This process will help to create a love for the subject and we hope the children will choose to tread gently on our planet as they grow older once they have a personal link to the Amazon, the Yawanawá tribe and the amazing rainforest.

Will they really want to eat chicken fed by soya grown on cut rainforest and beef raised on slash and burn land once they now it is destroying the home of Nixiwaka and his people and our climate?