Untitled, 2017. Paraffin, pigment and string, 23 x 17 x 4 cm.
A cultural and aesthetic reflection on the role and influence of psychoactive elements in human culture is a hallmark of Stephan Doitschinoff’s work. Works that address this theme can be seen in the solo show Estaremos Aqui Para Sempre [We Will Be Here Forever], which Janaina Torres Galeria is showing from August 14 to October 5 2019 in São Paulo.
In the installation Interventu – Visão Remota, for example, which is part of the exhibition, Ayahuasca, the Psilocibe cubensis mushroom, the Peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) and the Morning Glory plant (Ipomoea) are sculpted in paraffin, like reliefs of open books and palms – an allusion to the millenary origins of the relationship between psychoactive substances and human beings, and also to the intrinsic presence of these and other elements in everyday life even today, although deprived of institutional acceptance.
In Cipó dos Espíritos (Ayahuaska), the plant is sculpted in relief on a piece made of rapadura. The canvas Jurema Preta com Enteógenos II (2015) integrates plants and fungi into the figure itself, in the manner of a lysergic and tropical Arcimboldo.
Doitschinoff is an artist who doesn’t shy away from tackling the great themes of human adventure, be they religious, political or behavioral. He produces art that is energetic and seeks transcendence – and therein lies another way of looking at the presence of psychoactive drugs in his production.
At issue in these works is the combination of elements that lead us to another metaphysical and spiritual state – whether sacred or profane, sensory or religious.
We asked Stephan Doitschinoff about the role of psychoactive elements in his art. Here is the artist’s statement.
About Interventu – Remote Viewing
“Plants, fungi, plant and animal extracts with psychoactive properties are deeply rooted in the spiritual and medicinal practices and rites of passage of native peoples who have had their cultural population marginalized, giving way to the law, culture and tradition of the conqueror.What is inserted into a book runs the risk of being institutionalized or immortalized, whether in a law manual, a dictionary or a holy book; publications have the property of elevating their content to the mainstream, of legalizing or inserting a new paradigm into society. The book as an object can represent the law (of men or of God), legality, what is accepted or has institutional support.”
Stephan Doitschinoff, Interventu (detail), 2017, Burnt wood, paraffin, brass, copper and fabric, variable dimensios. Detail.
On psychoactive elements
“Plants and psychoactive compounds have a huge influence on the world we live in, in a way they have shaped and continue to shape culture and reality in different ways. The media often makes it seem as if these substances are restricted to one layer of society or an underground subculture, but in fact they are not.
Modern medicine exists largely thanks to these substances. Nor would modern warfare exist without these substances. For example: there are countless accounts from different eras that tell us that every time a major war was announced, governments released poppy cultivation on a large scale; there is no war without morphine, and there is no morphine without opium.
They form the basis and foundation of most of the religions practiced in the world today. Even the political configuration is continuously being affected by these substances, our relationship with life, with fun, with spirituality or even with waking up in the morning – from cannabis to coffee, from Xanax to Stilknox, we are influenced by
these substances.”
