Making a painting is an act meant to bring about change in the artist, the viewer, and/or consensus reality. It’s an attempt to transmit phenomenological experience from one mind to another using a symbolic construction. How is this different from a sigil or spell? I investigate the connection between art/artmaking, magic/mysticism, psychology, and everyday experience. People may dismiss sigils, spells, or rituals as superstition, but few look askance at the idea of taking a walk to clear one’s head. What is the walk in this instance but a magic ritual? I guess that makes me some kind of mystic. An artist’s job is to access parts of reality or ways of seeing that are not normally accessible and bring back something of that special reality for everyone else to see and, ideally, to benefit from. I already use these paintings as sigils and trance-inducers to shape my own reality for the better. Can I get to a point where what I bring back can help ease the pain of others?