Sacramento, CA (1888PressRelease)
September 17, 2009 - Renowned photographer John Wimberley, who exhibited with Ansel Adams in two two-man shows, explored his deep interest in shamanism which led him to begin photographing Native American rock art sites and petroglyphs in the Nevada desert beginning in 2000.
Exhibit Dates: October 7, 2009 to November 7, 2009
Second Saturday Reception:
From 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm
Location: Viewpoint Photographic Art Center
2015 J Street, Suite 101
Sacramento CA 95811
Web: www.viewpointgallery.org
The petroglyphs are astounding in nature, have lasted through time, weather, pollution and man kind itself.
Of deep significance to their makers, these carefully executed renditions of various symbols, animals and humanoid figures are emblematic of a comprehensive, integrated, spiritual relationship with the environment. Petroglyphs were, for the most part, made by shamans as part of their efforts to control the weather, enhance fertility and maintain the balance of the world. Very little is known of their specific meanings. One symbol we do know is that the raised tail in the depictions of mountain sheep, the power animal of weather shamans, symbolized the "death" of the shaman as he or she entered the spirit world through the surface of the rock. While in that higher reality, the transformed shaman interacted with spirit entities and archetypal energies. Afterwards, he/she made petroglyphs that recorded the experience. Thus, the petroglyphs acted as apertures into the spirit world, in order to allow its healing energies access to the realm of daily life.
Petroglyphs are sometimes found where rocks echo or sound tonally when struck, or in places that convey a feeling of holiness. The stone on which petroglyphs are engraved is covered with a layer of "desert varnish", and the older the petroglyph, the more difficult it is to see because the desert varnish re-forms with time. They vary in size from a few inches to several feet. Sometimes, petroglyphs seem to magically appear and disappear as light falls upon them at certain angles. At the moment of the shutters' click, Wimberley exposed each picture to what was apparent only at that moment, but in the development of the negative and during printing, increased contrast often revealed very old petroglyphs that were not apparent to the eye.
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