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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

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?