Ana Tamanini – A Shamanic Body of Work
 

Ana Tamanini’s work does not fit the standard categories devised by Western art critics. Her output possesses a shamanic character, exploring the boundaries of perception; the result is a mutable body of work that expresses—through diverse colors, techniques, and mediums—the situations and emotions experienced by the artist.
 

In its origins, art held a magical character; prehistoric peoples—such as the inhabitants of the Lascaux caves—believed that paintings granted them power over the game they sought to hunt. In Egyptian and Greek societies, art also served religious purposes, a function that persisted throughout the Middle Ages. The Renaissance marked the moment when art turned toward the human being and severed its ties with magic. Yet, while this holds true for Europe, it does not apply to the greater part of the world. Across the East, Africa, and the Americas, art never dissociated itself from its entanglement with the forces of nature or its role in bridging the earthly and supernatural realms.
 

It is within this space—long denied by Western art, though that stance is now being re-evaluated—that Ana Tamanini’s work is situated. At times earthly, at others celestial; sometimes serene, at others vibrant; her work consistently builds a bridge between the inner Self and its relationship with the Eternal.