The High Priestess

Concept

Chrisantem Machacek is a photographer, a painter and a draftsman. He started with photography at the age of 12, later he turned his passion into the official studies at the Department of Still Photography at the Film and TV School in Prague (FAMU). He regards the photography as a tool for sharing the beauty of “the physical world”. Later he expanded his focus into drawing and painting because he desired to share his inner visions with the public.

There are numerous experiences with “shamanic master plants” (Ayahuasca, Iboga etc.) behind his work. He is using them for the healing of his body and soul because of the profoundly unfortunate experiences he had lived through. Chrisantem says that the artistic expression is a way of dealing with the shadows of the past.

Chrisantem loves to paint in the bigger formats using the acrylic colours. Each canvas is formed layer by layer, taking many hours to complete. He does a lot of thinking & sketches envisioning the final result.

In the photography he prefers to use a middle format camera with a black&white film. The time in his dark room where he enlarges the photos on the silver print baryta papers is like a meditation for him.

Chrisantem thinks that the creation of an art is a sacred state of being, completely thoughtless. Only an art, only the creation, only searching, exploring and transforming.