“Prayed Upon Prey”

“Prayed Upon Prey”

3-d collage & mixed media installation, 48” x 60” x 36" deep 

Final photo credit: Antony Boshier / Boshier Photography

All images copyright Wayne Brezinka 2014

“There are ghosts asleep inside every one of us: arcane issues never addressed, ancient griefs never laid to rest, suspicions, self doubts, banished longings, secret meanings. Something may call one of these ghosts by name. It will then arise from its slumber and begin speaking. This will take the form of a sudden insight, a connection never before acknowledged, a feeling that ignites an inner chain reaction, a joyful click as things finally fall into place. You are hearing the vote of a part of yourself long ago disenfranchised. When this happens, listen in rapture to the irrepressible “Yea.” 

"It may take years and just the right circumstances or person to grant us the liberating opening to know and to tell our story in words. When this happens, the memories come back and we hear ourselves putting them into words for the first time. This profound release initiates us into the heavy and healing ways of grief work."

– David Richo, How To Be An Adult

Based on my childhood nightmare of being chased through a forest by men in wolf masks, this art strongly represents the narrative of my personal story. My goal was to chronicle and capture a sense of loss and emotional dimension showing humanity in one of it's fullest, darkest forms. Notice the stripes on the boys sleeve and pant leg disintegrating and coming undone, the hounds and wolves all have red like stripes around their snouts, almost absorbing or perhaps devouring the boy. I felt strongly about these symbols, I can't explain why . . . they just felt right in the process of creating. I struggled deeply while creating this image, pushing through my fear of what people may think, how they / you might engage, react, interact or dismiss the work.

I believe it is important to honor those dark places in our lives, to honor the shadows and bring them to light. We all have shadows, every one of us. Why is it easier to trust the shadow instead of the light? 

Fear - I’m reminded of what our dear friend Stephanie Link shared with me on a plane to Colorado many years ago - she asked me “Wayne, how would you live without fear?” “How would your life play out differently?”

“We mark with light in the memory the few interviews we have had with souls that made our souls wiser, that spoke what we thought, that told us what we knew, that gave us leave to be what we inly are,” says Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"God will redeem the me that wants to hide" says my friend Joe Earnest

This image will be the cover of the very first Collective Dream Arts Magazine. Many thanks to Kayla Bowen for her invitation, patience and grace throughout this process. It is with deep gratitude that I thank my wife Staci for her love and understanding during this process and to my friend Dane Anthony (whom gave me the title "Prayed Upon Prey") and to my friend Scott Owings for giving me the gift of silence and a place of refuge in friendship. Learn more about the Collective and support what kayla is doing by visiting this link.

Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be used without permission. 

All images copyright Wayne Brezinka 2014.