In Search of Myth

This series was inspired by both traveling to Native American sacred sites and by Joseph Campbell's writings. Campbell, considered by some to be the foremost authority on mythology, made a statement that greatly affected me. His premise: because of our ability to circumnavigate the globe so quickly, humankind has broken the isolation that individual cultures held for many centuries. As a result of this, individual cultural beliefs, rituals and symbolism are being evolved and/or destroyed at a greatly accelerated rate.

With the world culture evolving quickly, our spiritual belief system has not evolved as fast. We see many different religious beliefs being in vogue, while others are being modified, and yet others are disappearing. Campbell felt that what is needed is a new universal myth that we can all live by. If one looks at many of the different religious beliefs through out history, it can be seen that there is a thread of similarity running through a surprising number of them. Civilizations that were hundreds of years apart or thousands of miles away have unusual similarities. The main differences are seen in the icons and the names. Currently, we can also observe neighboring cultures that carry on wars due to historical beliefs or ancient differences in their mythologies.

This series is an attempt to search out myths that we can live by. They are all created in sacred spaces, some recognized by our society and others not. By entering these sacred spaces and interacting with them, I am attempting to create a new personal myth to live by, and hope to share that myth with the viewer.