First, a little about myself.
I am a graphic designer, collage artist and illustrator with over ten years experience working freelance, mostly for independent record labels who showcase experimental and established musicians from around the world. I also produce editorials for journals and online publications on topics ranging from politics and technology to spirituality and alchemy.

I have two degrees relating to my profession, one in Graphic Arts and Design and the other in Higher and Further Education that allowed me to teach Art and Design at college and university level in the UK.
Over the last few years, I have been focusing this academic experience into my creative practice to supplement and contextualise my visual creations.
This has led me to become a senior editor, writer and researcher within a small team, for the arts and culture website Visual Melt, where I write in-depth articles about ancient culture and art history.

As all the research and writing for Visual Melt is made in our free time, it can be difficult to give the subject matter the full attention it deserves. Nevertheless, the passion to inform future generations about the often overlooked aspects of ancient history, and to retell this through art and design, has so far been the single motivation behind all of my work.

Over the last two years, I moved temporarily to Meso-america to begin exploring more closely the mythical dimensions of history through studying the Olmec, Toltec, Zapotec and Mayan cultures (the latter culture still being intact and contemporary in rural parts of the continent). In this relatively short space of time I have visited many ancient sites (listed below) with the intention of researching their importance by detailing the meanings of ancient symbolism through drawing, as well as contextualising them by cross-referencing against academic journals and the thoughts of the indigenous communities wherever possible.

OBJECTIVES:

With your support I am looking to find a little more financial security to give me the time to organise content that I have currently been unable to share in it's true depth.
Your contributions will help me organise all of my research materials collected so far, in a manner that will not only provide more articles for the Visual Melt website, but will also contribute towards designing and self-publishing a book on the topic of ancient history. The book will be titled, 'Journey to the Centre of the Memory Palace' and will explore the symbolism of the world's ancient cultures through their mythologies and some of the following questions:

• What can ancient history teach us about the future?
  
• What role does mythology play in modern psychology, philosophy and physics?
• Can collective memory be evoked through ancient art and architecture?
  
• Is there a science to symbology?
  
• Are hieroglyphs the language of the processes of nature?
  
• How can myth be rendered as a dimension of action?
  
• What is the relationship of myth to history?
  
  

It is my feeling that there are still many aspects of history that are yet to be fully explored and incorporated into a more cohesive image of how mythical narratives have influenced the course of culture on local and global scales, in both a material and psychological sense.
As more advanced, 'lost civilisations' rise to the surface, they will continue to challenge the idea that 'cradles of civilisation' neatly fit into modern, institutionalised ideas of national identity.
I hope that this work will encourage broader perspectives when dealing with the value that cultural exchange has upon the spiritual and creative enhancement of humanity as a whole, not only through common engagement but also through the preservation of distinct cultural traditions.

So far, through my own independent study and work, I have managed to raise around 10,000MXN through the sale of artworks directly inspired by visiting some of these ancient sites. In each case the funds went directly to The Rainforest Alliance and to SOS Agatha Oaxaca, to help preserve indigenous knowledge and to aid with rebuilding efforts in a small coastal town respectively. It may not seem like a huge amount, but some currencies can go a long way in this part of the world.

PATRON TIERS:

Various membership levels have been created using the sequential model of the Tarot's Major Arcana, with each level signifying your level of participation in the research and book projects.
As more people become interested, I will be able to add more rewards in each tier.


OTHER INFO:

You can look through posts of my older social work on Patreon, in the fields of art therapy and hosting public workshops through my project Tiny Library.
There are some downloadable collages available for you to print and distribute as you feel, and I will continue to add more posts that are relevant to my ongoing research over the next couple of months; this will include my own work and the work of other researchers who have inspired me and given an historical understanding to my visual practice.

You can also view over fifty articles and essay, ranging from topics of art history to psychedelics, that I have written for free, over on the Visual Melt website.
My work through Patreon will be more specifically focussed on the evolution and influence that ancient art and culture has upon modern ideas of the world.


"A myth is far truer than a history, for a history only gives a story of the shadows, whereas myth gives a story of the substances that cast the shadows.”


Thank you for reading this far and I hope you continue to find this work of value.