Hank Wesselman’s
Paintings
About Hank’s Art:
Hank Wesselman’s Visionary Paintings are of places and spirits that Hank perceived in an altered state of consciousness in the late 1980s – a shamanic visionary state or in his nighttime dreaming while living in South Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. There was no chemical stimulus involved and the images came spontaneously. He created the paintings between 1987-1989, except for one painted in 1997. This coincides with the Spiritwalker: Messages From The Future experiences and became a means of expression for what he was experiencing internally.
The majority of the paintings feature heiaus, the ancient Hawaiian temples which are places of power, each dedicated to one of the Hawaiian gods, and a location for ceremonies and prayers. The structure was made of a lava stone platform that supported a hale, a small, thatched house, which provided an inner sanctum exclusive to traditional priestly activities and housed the spiritual relics of value and power for the spiritual well-being of the community. Some of the featured heiaus have archeological locations on the Big Island and are identified as such via the titles. Others have no stated location in physical reality yet exist energetically in the dream realm. The stylized angular, geometric style is very different from any of his other paintings and resemble as if seen looking through a kaleidoscope. Patterns are significant in the spiritual dimension, no doubt a lens through which the familiar is made less familiar, allowing subtler influences to be received and perceived, first subconsciously with feelings and then consciously, leading to eventual understanding.
Visionary Paintings: 1987-1989, 1997
Three powerful animal spirts are featured in the way that Hank perceived them. These spirits exist in the realm of symbol and as such, they appear in symbolic form. Hank often stated “Power is the name of the game” with spirits and thus the empowered nature of these three spirits informed and defined his relationship to them. The Leopard Man is made known through Hank’s writings, the others less so. In not sharing all that he knew, he leaves the door open for others to explore the significance for themselves.
In 1997, Hank painted a “map” of non-ordinary reality as he knew and experienced it. In the gold-toned composite painting, the significant spiritual entities are symbolically present, from the viewpoint of the Middle World of Dream. They include depictions of his Aumakua Soul (Immortal Soul), his Guide, the Guardian Spirit of his Initiation, his Cosmic Council Spirits and other empowering spirits: the Leopard Man, the Kupua, the Pohaku. There is a glimpse into the manifested world from the Middle World of Dream, indicating just how accessible one level of reality is to the other. Anyone who has the capacity to understand symbolic introductions and the shamanic world view can appreciate this painting as Hank’s Spirit Story, without a word spoken. The composite painting was gifted to the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in 1997.
The Visionary Paintings are the first of three divisions of Hank’s painting collection to be offered. It is our intent to present the other two (see below) in the coming months. We chose to start with the Visionary Paintings because their influence assists to “create bridges between the every day and the eternal” (HW). On occasion people experience these paintings as gateways to the subtler realms of reality, worthy of contemplation, exploration and experience.
Art Show in Kailua, Kona in 1989. Featured with Hank are Kumu Hula George Naope, who opened the show with prayer and chant, and Marga Zack, who coordinated the art show featuring Hank’s paintings. Below – in attendance was Brett Weston, photographer and son of Edward Weston, seated with Jill in front of two of Hank’s paintings, Heiau #2 Night Garden Heiau and Heiau of the Sun.
HANK WESSELMAN BEGAN
PAINTING IN THE LATE-1970s
Hank Wesselman began painting in the late-1970s for enjoyment and a counterbalance to his ongoing paleo-biological research and work at UC Berkeley. Twice a week he attended the fine arts program at the California Academy of Art in downtown San Francisco, starting with drawing classes, then oil painting and bronze sculpture courses.
With time his paintings became self-organized into three categories: Art School paintings, Landscapes and Portraits, and his Visionary Paintings. Art school provided the opportunity to create life and still life paintings, as well as metal sculpture. He was able to improve his skills and abilities and eventually work independently in his studio. The second group of paintings include places and people that meant something to him, especially the arid desert landscapes of his scientific research locations in Ethiopia as well as tropical settings in Nigeria where he served in the Peace Corp.
Hank began teaching shamanism and the shamanic method in earnest in 1997, dedicating his creativity to writing and being in circle with fellow cosmic explorers, who too have a sincere desire to know who they are, what they are and their place in the “tapestry” of Life. Living from that place of authenticity is part of fulfilling our destiny as Humans. Such is the power of symbols, of relationships with the divine, and of our True Nature braided with the cords of Aloha.
Hank’s Feature in Kona Coast Magazine, 1989
