by Cheryl Owen Wilson

For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by all mythology surrounding spiritual realms where the dead can, and do, communicate with the living. My childhood into young adult years were spent amongst my mother’s family in Southern Louisiana. It is the place where my first memory, at around two years old, is of a great aunt’s open coffin sitting in another aunt’s living room ready to receive visitors. It was, and still is, a culture where voodoo and hoodoo, if not practiced, are at the very least still believed, right along-side rosary bead prayin’ and Holy Water anointin’. My grandmama once told me, “Our dead walk beside us every day. Listen and they’ll tell you their stories”. I’ve been listening ever since.

I now live in Oregon. Yet, as those of you who read my blog know, I still delve into the world of the dead through my writing.

So when I discovered our local art gallery, Maude Kerns Art Center, held an annual Dia’ de los Muertos juried art show I decided to explore the concept of honoring our dead through my art as well. It was 2013 and my first foray into juried art shows. I soon learned having some writing skills came in handy as an artist’s statement is required explaining each entry. This year marks the 29th year for this art show!

Some years I’ve dressed as my painting adding performance art to my resume’. Here are a few of my entries:

“Silent Salene” and “Stairway to The Departed”

In “Soul of The Bayou” she slumbers beneath the bayous depths watching over long-lost souls and on this one day, the Day of the Dead she rises in their memory.

In “Black Birds Call” the symbolism of marigolds dropped by the birds like breadcrumbs, leads lost souls out of the mists of the swamp and into the light.

“Day of Dead Meets Steampunk”

In “Dia de los Muertos-Marigold’s Embrace I have envisioned ravens assisting delivery of in the marigolds as they guide the spirits.  The woman is dressed in mourning purple as the earth takes her back sewing her lips shut with their vine tendrils.  

“Dia de los Muertos Fortune Telling“

The Fortune Teller’s face is painted in honor of the day.  She wears a cape lined with purple, surrounded by purple, a color symbolizing mourning on the Day of the Dead. A raven (another harbinger of the dead) delivers to her a tarot card etched with vibrant marigolds. Both the raven and the marigolds will help the Dia des los Muertos Fortune Teller guide the lost soul trapped in her Crystal Ball out, and to its loved ones on this special day of celebration.

Madonna Rising—Dia de los Muertos Street Art

The Madonna is often displayed on Dia de los Muertos alters.  It is believed she will assist in communication with dead loved ones.  In my painting I’ve featured her as graffiti, placed on an old brick wall. She is clothed in purple, symbolizing mourning. A raven flying past the wall delivers marigolds to her.  The marigolds will then guide the dead’s spirit to their loved ones through both their aromatic scent, and vibrant golden color—a color featured on the Madonna’s halo and carried throughout the painting. 

A Cosmic Death’s Embrace on Dia de los Muertos

I’ve reimagined many of photos NASA has shared of the far away galaxies through my art.  In this piece, Carl Sagan’s quote—“The cosmos is within us; we’re made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”—came to mind again and again.  With hearts renewed upon meeting on the Day of the Dead, these two are locked in an eternal embrace.

“Ophelia of the Dead”

“Stardust to Dust“

“Dia de los Muertos by Moonlight” There are many faces to see in nature such as those seen within the twists and turns of tree limbs. When viewing my art, you will often find a tree. In my Day of the Dead artworks those trees will be reminiscent of the eerie gnarled  trees of my youth in the bayous of Louisiana.  For this painting since skeletal figures in all forms are a part of the Day of the Dead celebration, the tree limbs forms one on a moonlit night. The purple background is a symbol of our mourning.

For my 2022 entry, “Bayou Cemetery by Skull Light”, I imagined yet another of the many faces playing hide and seek in nature. For this piece it is. a sugar skull rising from a Bayou where grave head stone have long been forgotten. A raven, thought of as a guide to lost souls, provides a path by dropping the Day of the Dead Marigolds for loved ones to follow.

You can find more of my artworks at Mecovisions.com.

How do you honor those who have gone before you?