Spring 2024 Updates: Reigniting the Spirit of the Artist

I guess nothing ever goes exactly as planned. I’ve come to embrace the radical changes in my life and projects with detachment and resilience, accepting and even welcoming them.

Redefining & Refining the encralchimie Project

Spring 2024 has marked a clear “before” and “after” for me and my projects. Initially, my vision for encralchimie, which I shared in my first blog post, was quite vague. Now, it’s more defined and practical. The most radical change involves transportation. Originally, I envisioned myself living a nomadic lifestyle, traveling on foot from place to place, embracing a slow-paced, down-to-earth existence. However, I realized the need for flexibility, so I decided to get a car. Yes, you read that correctly: I will be driving a car now instead of traveling solely on foot.

So now what? Am I just going to dismiss my early intuitions about my heart’s desire to live a very slow-paced and grounded lifestyle? Not exactly. My new idea is to do both: drive a car and walk. This will give me the flexibility to reach specific destinations with ease when necessary, while still allowing myself to experience walking and potentially have social interactions during less busy periods of my journey. Does this all really make sense? Will it work out the way I envision it today? Maybe not. But no matter what, I will try, maybe fail, learn, and move on.

Another change is the timeline for my tattooing journey. Over the winter, I practiced on fake skin and took online courses, but I still don’t feel ready to tattoo real skin. Initially, I thought I could start tattooing friends soon after quitting my job in Switzerland, but that was overly optimistic. Now, my plan is to improve my artistic skills through drawing and painting, creating a portfolio before seeking an apprenticeship with an experienced tattoo artist. Only after that will I feel ready to fully embark on the encralchimie project.

I’ve also (finally !) outlined the seven steps of the encralchimie process, which integrates tattooing with alchemical principles:

1. Listen (Calcination)
2. Sketch (Dissolution)
3. Select (Separation)
4. Design (Conjunction)
5. Redefine (Fermentation)
6. Tattoo (Distillation)
7. Heal (Coagulation)

These steps redefine how both I, the artist, and the person getting a tattoo experience the process. I’ll share more details on a dedicated page soon.

As for my artistic style, I've refined my vision but prefer to let my upcoming drawings and paintings speak for themselves. For a glimpse, check out this drawing I posted on Instagram last summer.

New Artistic Achievements

Although I'm still learning, I've made significant progress with the encralchimie project. Here are some of the stories I would like to share:

First, there was the creation of a business card for encralchimie. This experience was a significant milestone, as it gave me the chance to use my alchemical knowledge practically for the first time. The most useful aspect was finding the slogan, which distilled down to: “Redefining your tattoo experience.” Owning a business card and experiencing the act of giving it to people was also personally significant. It takes courage to hand out a card to someone; it’s like showing them who I am without fearing criticism or being ignored or dismissed due to disinterest.

For my birthday party in February, marking the end of my old life in Switzerland and the start of my artistic journey, I created a unique decoration by spraying fluorescent paint on the roots of a fallen tree. This project was time-consuming but rewarding, and it impressed everyone at the party. Although not part of encralchimie, but more as a side-project, I also DJed at the party as Zonkairos, which was a fun and energizing experience.

I've also started a logo project for friends' YouTube channel, inaugurating the application my alchemical art process for the design. Unfortunately, I had to pause this project due to a broken iPad, which I broke intentionally.

Wait! What? Why would I break my iPad on purpose? Did I become crazy? Maybe, but in a way that I see as a portal for growth. Every artist has a touch of madness, right? Here’s the story: I was in an altered state of consciousness, feeling an intense inner pulse to create something totally unthinkable, something irrational. That’s what real art is, isn’t it? Irrational and liberating. In this cathartic state, I took my hatchet and broke the screen of my iPad. It might sound foolish, but this act felt profoundly liberating, as if I created my first piece of real art. It was a catalyst in awakening the dormant artist within me.

Reconnecting with my inner artist has been a journey back to my childhood, when I was naturally creative, thanks in part to my education at a Rudolf Steiner school. This spring, I've rekindled that creativity through activities like making fires, working with wood, and spending time in nature. These activities now feel essential to my well-being and fuel my artistic energy.

I also attended a workshop on Sacred Geometry in April, which was incredibly enriching. The knowledge I gained will enhance my future artwork, ensuring it is both visually appealing and energetically harmonious.

Now, I saved the best achievement for the end: I finally did my first tattoo! I tattooed myself on my own leg with a design inspired by my learnings at the Sacred Geometry workshop. Check out my Instagram post to see how it looks! This design represents the story of creation using sacred geometry:

At the beginning, there was nothing. Then there was movement. We created duality… to remember (again) who we are.

I’m very happy with how much I learned during the four hours it took me to complete this tattoo. I know my choice of position and design was quite challenging, and the result is far from perfect. But I don’t really care about all those little mistakes; I definitely learned from each of them.

As I continue this journey, embracing both the challenges and triumphs, I am excited to see where my path as an artist will lead next. Stay tuned for more updates and thank you for being a part of this transformative adventure.