As a ritualistic gesture eating ones power animal, or totem, is practiced globally around the world. I won’t even go down the pew aisle of what the body and blood of Christ is all about. It is an act that empowers us. At church, in the amazon jungle or …wherever the unconscious and the conscious  dance that voodoo dance.

Over the years I have done this dance with the Praying Mantis. In a dream I had, there was a bowl of sweet and sour praying mantis soup. Ingesting my totem is ingesting into my conscious mind …my unconscious. I bet that makes you feel like you’re upside down under water. Praying Mantis teaches me about life, death and rebirth. She teaches me about love and the continuity of life. She shows me that family and friends are not as dependable as the sun in the sky or the pattern of the cosmos. Standing tall and silent is a power gesture of her power and I make it my power. Praying Mantis is a beautiful nature colored creature. This art piece is my expression through art of my dream. I used things around the house and the computer to create the piece; cardboard, acrylic, watercolor / photo shop, printer via the computer. Four golden buttons from my mothers collection; items that I touch and use every day. Embracing around the piece is a dark green handmade Paper Mache’ frame made from recycled paper. I like to compose and then compress a lot of information into my essays and art that brings forth an archetype, myth or a thread for the possibility of  communication between our mysterious collective unconscious.

http://hudleyflipside.org/my-art-story/