Don Pablo Amaringo • Acclaimed Peruvian Artist + Shaman
LEFT TO RIGHT: Paintings from Don Pablo Amaringo’s students of the Usko-Ayar Amazonian School of Painting
Who is “Don Pablo Amaringo” to Perfumera Curandera?
Don Pablo Amaringo’s work is a constant reminder of the spirit and power of the Amazonian Rainforest, and a force of true artistic expression. I feel incredibly fortunate to have met and spent time with Don Pablo Amaringo when we first visited his Usko Ayar School of Amazonian Art back in the early 90s with my Peruvian husband. On our visit, we were given a tour of the school grounds and met the young artists in training, where we bought several small works of art from these young aspiring painters. Each painting depicting jungle scenes had common themes with elements such as the spirits of the trees, the enormity of the plants, the beautiful landscape of the Amazon Forest, the vastness of the Amazon river, the living creatures, and the Spirit realms that inhabit it.
LEFT: Don Pablo Amaringo in his studio on our visit • RIGHT: The painting we bought upon meeting and seeing Amaringo
On our trip, we purchased a large original painting from Pablo himself. Our choice was a piece depicting many magical realms and beings, space ships, geometrical patterns, the revered Anaconda Snake, and the spirit of the Ayahuasca vine. Ever since our journey to his school in Peru, our painting has been a source of great inspiration. Contemplating its intricate patterns and elements, one feels the beautiful energetic power of the spirits that Pablo was able to channel through his painted visions.
LEFT: Amaringo’s piece hanging in our studio • RIGHT: A scene from a day at the studio with my assistant working on production with me.
His original painting along with the other smaller ones by his students has always hung in all my perfume studios. They’ve traveled from Woodstock to Malibu now in my little nook in Topanga, inspiring me daily. I feel they bring the magical energies from the mystical realms into each of my creations as I formulate, bottle, and send off my fragrant offerings. I create all of my Whole Plant perfumes with the intention that they will bring similar healing and transcendence as what one experiences when traveling into these divine realms that Amaringo shows us.
LEFT: Don Pablo Amaringo in his studio • CENTER: Our original piece hanging in the Perfumera Curandera Studio • Right: Close up details of our piece.
LEFT + RIGHT: Don Pablo Amaringo Originals
ABOUT DON PABLO AMARINGO
Pablo Amaringo was an acclaimed Peruvian artist who was the originator of a genre of colorful visionary art associated with Ayahuasca known as “The Vine of the Soul” and the magical nature of the Amazon Jungle. His paintings explored the relationships between man, spirit, and nature and the altered state of consciousness when dieting with the sacred plant medicines of the forest.They included fantastical representations of creatures, plants, and humans interacting with the natural world and the dreaming state. He received inspiration for his art from the inner journeys and visions he experienced when drinking the entheogenic plant brew, Ayahuasca.
Recognized as one of the world’s great visionary artists, Pablo Amaringo was renowned for his intricate, colorful paintings inspired by his shamanic visions. A master communicator of the ayahuasca experience--where snakes, jaguars, subterranean beings, celestial palaces, aliens, and spacecraft all converge--Amaringo’s art presents a doorway to the transcendent worlds that ayahuasca reveals, intended for contemplation, meditation, and inspiration.
LEFT + RIGHT: Don Pablo Amaringo Originals
Mr. Amaringo was number seven of thirteen children and was born in 1943 in Puerto Libertad on the banks of the Ucayali River near Iquitos. The family moved to Pucallpa to find work after becoming impoverished. Pablo suffered from severe heart problems after the move and became extremely ill; he couldn’t work for two years. He attributed his eventual cure to a local shaman, and from his experience with serious illness, he learned many healing techniques, gaining a reputation as a curandero and employing sacred Amazonian plants as medicines.
During the period of his recovery, he began to draw and paint. He could not afford paints, so he used the materials he had at hand, including cardboard boxes for a painting surface, lipstick from his sisters, and a blue substance called “permatex” that his friend brought to him from the car factory where he was employed.
ABOUT USKO-AYAR AMAZONIAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING
The Usko-Ayar Amazonian School of Painting is a non-governmental, non-profit institution open to children, young people, and everyone who wants to learn the art of painting, especially people with scarce economic resources. Its mission is to bring art within the reach of everyone through spreading technical knowledge and that the same time promoting the personal development of each one of its members, with the purpose of seeking that the human being appreciates and preserve the creation, that is to say, their environment.
This school enabled many young people in his community to learn the techniques of visionary art. Some of his students became accomplished and well-recognized artists in their own right.
LEFT + RIGHT: Don Pablo Amaringo Originals