The heat of the day radiates from hard packed earth at twilight. Slowly, and with great joy, the village dancers go out to meet the approaching Mothers of Rain. An aged deer begins to see visions. A young mother is giving birth. Animal and spirit friends gather to celebrate.

This is a world far removed from 20th century urban life. Yet I believe that buried in each of us is a memory of the time when plants, animals and humans spoke the same language, and that there still remains in us all a trace of that regard for our fellow travelers that leads the Bushmen of Africa to refer to animals as "persons of an early race".

Prompted by [the] dream, I began building proto animals of mud and straw as a way to connect with childhood memories of California hill country. I loved the open hills, I roamed the grassy slopes, gathering wild sweet peas, digging forts, making "stew" of adobe soil and dry grasses in my mother's cooking pans.

The animal figures were at first a way for me to touch that particular child in me and bring her forward in time. As I worked, the repeated gestures of bundling and tying hay, of kneading and shaping mud, bagan to take on a ritual quality for me. I felt a kinship with ancient working rhythms, with totem builders of early societies.

For many years I had painted images from my dreams. My dreaming led me to an interest in cultures other than our own, whose language and customs encouraged interaction with the immense fertility of the dream or spirit world. With my hands grounded in earth and hay, I found I was able to enter that world directly through my art. I crossed over into a land older than my dreams, and found that I was welcome there.

These creatures waiting to greet you today are gifts from that world. May you also find welcome among them.

--Rachael Dutton, 1984: statement for installation at Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park, "Magical Mystery Tour'' 1984-85

SOURCE: Dreamworks: an Interdisciplinary Quarterly (v.5, no.3/4, 1988, p.161-4). Illustrated: First Mothers Dancing, Rachael Dutton, 1984, mixed media, 76" x 22" x 106". Sadly, I've been unable to find a full-color image.

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