In my artistic exploration, I seek to unveil the hidden connections between magic and nature, delving into realms beyond the visible and resurrecting forgotten knowledge.

My interest in the occult is motivated by my mother’s lost battle with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with when I was three years old. She was placed in a nursing home when I was in 7th grade, while I went to live with relatives. Ever since that time, her health deteriorated until her passing in December 2019. Her slow loss of control and eventual death led me to question our reality and explore other planes of consciousness. I do this through various experiments such as Mirror Drawing or drawing with both my hands at the same time; Faint Drawing, where I made myself faint with graphite powder on my head; Drawings made under hypnosis, and my Past Life project, where my hypnotist regressed me to ten previous lives. Other projects include my tarot card series, where I research and examine the oldest known examples of the Major and Minor Arcana and their archetypal themes, configurations, and correlations with planets and metals (for example: the Fool-Taurus-Venus-Copper). Many of these projects are ongoing, such as my Book of Astrology, which is a celestial globe that opens to reveal circular pages, each representing a zodiac sign with a pair of corresponding female artists.

I practice witchcraft as a form of feminist dissidence, reviving burned and buried knowledge. The feminism in my work grasps at the root of the problems faced since the dawn of patriarchy. One issue is access to body knowledge – such as the ancient herb, Daucus carota, whose seeds can be used as a safe morning-after pill and even as birth control. The continued feminist struggle compelled me to start a project making protective shields adorned with words from feminist writers. Often I draw inspiration from our prehistory when the world was at peace, people lived in harmony with nature, and resources were shared instead of hoarded. My use of the spiral references such a time. Spiral symbols were drawn on stone Neolithic cairns. The spiral is used in witchcraft for banishing, called Widdershins, or a counterclockwise spiral. The alternative is Deosil, a clockwise motion, which is used to draw in correct energies during spells and rituals.

I’m trying to make the intangible tangible, blending traditional mediums like oil painting, printmaking, drawing, and sculpture. It’s important to me that my hand be the sole maker, ensuring that there is a transference of my essence – failures and epiphanies – into the work. I also use film and photography to capture the modes I used to craft these works, which evolved into secluded performance pieces. Those craft performances have expanded into public resistance performances intertwining class, feminism, and witchcraft. My Walking to Work Backwards piece examines women’s roles and class in the art world. Another performance combining class and spellwork was made on Labor Day called Exhaustion Spiral: Widdershins where I walk forward and backward in a spiral until I fall. I aim to unearth our lost power to heal ourselves and the world.

© Crystal Dyer

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