Collection Spotlight: Shamanic Roots
TLDR: This 1/1 collection transports you to an otherworldly universe, bringing you on a journey to explore your own shamanic roots. The symbol-filled, psychedelic art is accompanied with abstract stories which allows every viewer to find glimpses of their very own life experiences within the art. At the core of this project, artist Tunc Suerdas hopes to unify people by showing them that despite our differences, deep down we are all the same.
Collection Site: https://joepegs.com/collections/shamanic-roots
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuncsuerdas
Humans have always had a special connection with the stars. Even as far back as our earliest ancestors, we have ended each and every day by watching the sunlight slip away to leave behind a painting of a universe that has existed since long before our time. For those who occasionally manage to escape their artificially lit cityscapes, the night sky can revitalize our connection to nature. It’s a reminder of the stunning beauty that is this world we live in. It may even leave us to ponder how we’re supposed to fit in to this unimaginably big world.
In a time where technology makes it very easy to see the ways our lives are different than that of others, the stars are truly one of the only unifying experiences that remains for our species. Across various continents, countries, cities, and neighborhoods, the contrasts of our lifestyles and cultures are countless. Yet certain things have the power to bring our focus back to our commonalities. Stars are one of these. The pondering of one’s existence while searching for meaning in the constellations — humans have been doing that since ancient times.
So what else? What other concepts are engrained in our collective DNA?
If you take a look back through the history of civilization, there is one rather interesting thread that can be found from all corners of the globe — the Monomyth. Often referred to as the “Hero’s Journey”, this reoccurring pattern of storytelling can be spotted in everything from ancient Greek mythology to Star Wars. The monomyth goes a little something like this: a hero ventures out from their normal life into a world of adventure. They face trials, endure hardships, and ultimately come out victorious before returning home to share their new insights with others.
The reason this pattern is such a powerful storytelling technique is its ability to be a metaphor for our own lives. That’s because the “hero’s journey” is really just a glorified version of the journey of life that we each live out on a daily basis. For a large scale example, think about the journey we each experience moving from childhood to take on the real world and then “returning” as a real adult to share your wisdom with your children — this is the hero’s journey. Even smaller things such as learning a new skill or going on a short adventure can follow this pattern. This is why the monomyth can be found in the stories of ancient cultures that had never interacted with each other. The symbolism transcends all of our differences and what’s left is the shared experience of being human.
This insight into the shared connections we all share as people is one of the great takeaways artist Tunc Suerdas found through his life of travel. For over 20 years, he has been backpacking around the world and exploring the different cultures, religions, and lifestyles it has to offer. He found that the stories we tell are central to our identity as people. It matters not what nationality, religion, or culture you find yourself a part of but rather it’s the stories that makes us human. Lying a level deeper, he found that nature was a common thread underpinning many of the cultural stories that persisted for generations. It is a unifying force between humans. So he came to believe that Shamanism, an ideology that centers around finding the spirits in all things, is at the core of all belief systems.
Most belief systems are driven by the common pattern of trying to understand our own world by connecting with a world outside of our view. That “understanding” that we most often seek is to find the meaning of life. Although many people, religions, and cultures may take separate paths towards this goal, finding a connection with nature is often the central theme that guides these practices. The foundation of shamanism is an essential piece in understanding the commonalities between the various belief systems of our world.
With this in mind, Tunc decided to start a new journey for his own exploration into this theme. Although a skilled photographer, he realized that for such universal themes, he needed art with a higher level of abstraction. Photographs were too “to the point”. So Tunc bought himself an iPad and began to experiment. Despite it being his first foray into digital art, Tunc quickly crafted a style that he felt could capture the energy he wished to put out into the world and thus the “Shamanic Roots” NFT collection was born.
The psychedelic energy of this collection transports you to an otherworldly universe and brings you on a journey to explore your own roots. Tunc poured his most vulnerable, authentic self into this collection. Every piece is a completely unique work of art that reflects moments from the life and journeys of Tunc. However, as we’ve seen before, many of the stories that we find in our own lives can also find a place in the hearts and minds of others. Tunc layers meaning into his art by intertwining common symbols into the work and adding abstract stories to accompany each piece.
Although Tunc sees his own personal journey in each work of art, he hopes to create art that allows viewers to find their own journey within it as well. For those who are willing to embark on this search, they will always be able to find themselves and their own life experiences in every piece. You simply have to take the dive and look.
This is part of the beauty of humans as a species. Our lives are so deeply intertwined with symbols that we often neglect to notice them. Every symbol means something to everyone even if its a subconscious understanding. So, when we take the time to sort through the abstract, we are all capable of writing our very own stories with the symbols we find before us. This collection is perhaps one of the best places to begin experimenting with this practice. You would be surprised by how much you’d be able to find.
Interestingly, the Shamanic Roots collection also has no order or sense of time associated with it. Similar to how the monomyth is cyclic, each piece can settle into any stage of your personal story at any time. A single art piece may signify the start of one journey, a great challenge in another journey, the end of a third journey simultaneously. All is one and one is all. If you read the abstract stories that accompany each piece, it may not make sense as a direct story, but these stories are all from the same world. Tunc hopes that if you follow along you will come to understand that the true meaning is the hidden ones that lies underneath.
Although it still remains to be seen on how the metaverse will actually take form, the next iteration of society will inevitably have both a digital and a global element to it. Tunc believes our identities in this new form of society need a reset. They need to start from scratch. That is why he utilizes a cartoonish and childless style in this collection. There is no need to divide us by race, nationality, or religion. Those are products of the last generation of society. Anyone and everyone should be able to find themselves at home in the metaverse, so Tunc creates art that gives meaning to us all. That is a very important reason for the form this collection has taken. In general, the ideas behind this collection and the lofty goals that Tunc has make this an impressive project for any artist to take on.
There is a biblical story that Tunc likes to reference to explain the goal of his work. The story goes that their once was a united human race that all spoke the same language. These people decided to unite under a single goal — to build a tower that would reach up to the heavens. God decided to destroy this “Tower of Babylon” and scatter humans abroad into all lands where they spoke different languages and could no longer communicate. This led us to the divided world we live in.
Tunc wants his work to be analogous to rebuilding the Tower of Babylon for the modern world. He sees the many people scattered around the globe still see the world as many distinct, separate groups. He wants to unite us again. The art is a means of reconnecting all of humanity under a new shared understanding that — we are all the same. Our commonalities are much stronger than our differences.
Taking on this challenge is a new story in itself. A new monomyth. A new hero’s journey. Tunc is setting out on a new adventure with his Shamanic Roots collection. He will face new and unexpected challenges on this journey, but someday he will be triumphant and be able return and pass on his learnings to others. With this, the foundation of a more united world will be laid.
I can’t think of a more heroic journey than that.
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