SACRED GEOMETRY

In 2019, three female shamans travelled from South Korean to my home in the Cascade Mountains. The head shaman, Kim Junghee, is a mansin, a master of one thousand spirits. She led a traditional Naerim Gut, a ceremony to initiate me as a shaman. 

All photographs by Rich Levitt.

After initiation, I began to experience plants differently. Before, I could feel the energy fields of trees. This aura feels kind of like a pleasant, welcoming pressure as I walk towards them. After the Naerim Gut, I could see/feel energy fields around plants and flowers. In a sketchbook, I tried to visually represent what this radiant, emanating energy felt like. 

Yet, I wasn't satisfied with the representation. As I made drawings and paintings of the garden, at Botanica gardens in Wichita and in my garden at home, I asked myself repeatedly: "How do I represent the magical power of the garden? Of plants and flowers? How do I integrate my elemental shamanic being into physical artworks that can be shared with my audience? How do I construct a window where you can glimpse this world?"

In January, 2024, I was editing a chapter on the art audience as shamanic community, for a forthcoming anthology entitled Science, The Sacred, and the Arts, Cambridge Scholars, UK. Suddenly, many points of inspiration connected and took form. I began playing and experimenting with details of garden paintings and created the following images. The radiating design well presents the  energy I experience in nature.

Please see my portfolio on ArtworkArchive to view available work, prices, and sizes: 
​https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/denita-benyshek/portfolio

1. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). That which is Emergent. ​
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2. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). ​The Radiant Lotus. 
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3. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). The Mother. We are Born of The Earth.
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4. Denita Benyshek (2024). ​Kuan Yin in The Garden.
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5. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). ​Portal to the Night Garden.
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6. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). ​The Wondrous Here Now.
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7. Denita Benyshek (January 20, 2024). ​The Circle of Love.
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8. Denita Benyshek (January 25, 2024), From the Center.
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9. Denita Benyshek (January 25, 2024). From The Earth to The Sky.
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10. Denita Benyshek (January 25, 2024). The Night Hawk. 
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11. Denita Benyshek (January 26, 2024). The Path Between Yesterday and Tomorrow.
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12. Denita Benyshek (February 3, 2024). The Path Between Worlds.
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13. Denita Benyshek (February 4, 2024), Welcome Child.
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14. Denita Benyshek (February 4, 2024), When I Heard the Stars Sing.
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15. Denita Benyshek (February 5, 2024), Visitant.
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16. Denita Benyshek (February 5, 2024), Danae.
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17. Denita Benyshek (February 5, 2024), The Walled Garden.
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18. Denita Benyshek (February 6, 2024), I was of Two Minds like a Tree in which there are Two Blackbirds.
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19. Denita Benyshek (February 7, 2024), Giordino Segreto (Secret Garden).
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20. Denita Benyshek (February 20, 2024), In Persephone's Mirror. 
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21. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), The Prophetess.
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22. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), Four Songs of the Star Farmers.
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23. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), Zeus in the Eye of the Storm, I.
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24. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), Maria Goeppert Gazing at Clouds (Fission).
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25. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), Entrance: Multiplicity. 
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27. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024), ​The Lake is The Gate, to The Sky.
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28. Denita Benyshek (February 22, 2024). Yes or No? Stay or Go? 
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29. Denita Benyshek (February 26, 2024), In the Tradition of the Poet, Enheduanna.
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30. Denita Benyshek (February 28, 2024), The Target for the Arrow of Time: Still and Unchanging Moons.
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31. Denita Benyshek (March 1, 2024), Night Music.
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32. Denita Benyshek (March 1, 2024). ​The Four Directions, Turning and Still.

33. Denita Benyshek (March 3, 2024), Commingled Imaginations.
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34. Denita Benyshek (March 3, 2024), What Our Teachers Know.
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35. Denita Benyshek (March 3, 2024), In the Center of the Map (L'Origine du Monde).
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36. Denita Benyshek (March 3, 2024), Discovering the Center of the Universe.
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37. Denita Benyshek (March 3, 2024). 
In a Lake, in the
Sky, Sunset
when a God Appeared.
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38. Denita Benyshek (March 5, 2024), Venus above the Western Horizon.
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39. Denita Benyshek (March 5, 2024),  Poppies near our Waterfall. 
​Sold, private collection, Albuquerque, NM.
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40. Denita Benyshek (March 7, 2024), Living in the Realm of Potential. 
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41. Denita Benyshek (March 7, 2024), The Queen and her Attendants.
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42. Denita Benyshek (March 7, 2024), Our Secret Oasis. ​Chalk pastel.
​Private collection, Wichita, KS.

Denita Benyshek (March 7, 2024). At the Spring, Thou hast the Roses of Pieria (Sappho).
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43. Denita Benyshek (March 15, 2024), Reverberations.
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44. Denita Benyshek (March 16, 2024), Rain Willow I.
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45. Denita Benyshek (March 16, 2024), Rain Willow II.
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46. Denita Benyshek (March 16, 2024), In a Meadow, Watching Clouds.
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47. Denita Benyshek (March 16, 2024), Rose Garden in the Mountains.
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48. Denita Benyshek (March 16, 2024), Whispering and Listening.
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Denita Benyshek. (March 17, 2024). Planetary Egg.
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48. Denita Benyshek (March 17, 2024), Approaching a Region of the SpaceTime. ​
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49. Denita Benyshek (March 17, 2024), Palindrome.
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50. Denita Benyshek (March 17, 2024), Signal.
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51. Denita Benyshek (March 18, 2024), I Lay Down Golden in Time, and Woke Up Vanishing. 
The title is a line from Joni Mitchell's lyrics for "Sweet Bird."
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52. Denita Benyshek (March 19, 2024), Convergence.
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53. Denita Benyshek (March 19, 2024), For my Neighbors, Brenda and Ted.
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54. Denita Benyshek (March 19, 2024), Night Fountains.
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56. Denita Benyshek (March 18, 2024), Rain in the Forest.
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Denita Benyshek (March 20, 2024). The Offering.
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57. Denita Benyshek (March 25, 2024). The Eye of the Storm.
Oil pastel on black cotton rag paper, 22.25 x 26.75"
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58. Denita Benyshek (March 19, 2024), ​A Delicate Mystery Revealed.
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59. Denita Benyshek (March 11, 2024), Continental Divide (Arizona Quartet).
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60. Denita Benyshek (March 12, 2024), Observing the Intersection of Light.
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Denita Benyshek (April 13, 2024). The Idea of Peacocks.
Oil pastel on black cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (May 3, 2024). ​Radiance Woven.
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Denita Benyshek (May 3, 2024). Zephyr, From the Known to the Unknown.
Chalk pastel, archival pigment ink, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (May 4, 2024). Gate into the Southwest.
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Denita Benyshek (June 6, 2024). Pattern Recognition.
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Denita Benyshek (June 28, 2024). ​The Little Flora.
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Denita Benyshek (July 6, 2024). Charged.
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Denita Benyshek (July 6, 2024). We are all Connected. (Holy Mother). Acrylic, ink, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July 6, 2024). The Absolute. Acrylic, ink, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July, 2024). In a Meadow, Watching Clouds.
Acrylic, ink, watercolor, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
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Denita Benyshek (July 6, 2024). The Engine. Ink, acrylic, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July, 2024). Danae.
Acrylic, ink, watercolor, on cotton rag paper.
​Private collection, Wichita, KS.
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Denita Benyshek (July 6, 2024). This Sparkling World. Acrylic, ink, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July 17, 2024). When a Door Appears, Walk Through. 
Ink, acrylic, watercolor, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July, 2024). Night Fountain. 
​Acrylic, ink, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".

Denita Benyshek (July 30, 2024). We Are All Connected.
Acrylic and ink on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (July 30, 2024). When I Heard the Stars Sing.
Chalk pastel, acrylic, ink on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (August 14, 2024). All through the Night, All through the Night,
She Stood in the Rain, Holding a Chalice. 
Ink, watercolor, pastel, on cotton rag paper.
Sold, private collection, Little Elm (Dallas), TX.
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Denita Benyshek (August 13, 2024). Her Majesty Arriving in the Night.
Ink, acrylic, watercolor, on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (August 15, 2024). Living in the Green World.
Ink, oil pastel, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
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Denita Benyshek (August 21, 2024). A Glimpse of the Great Chain of Being.
Ink, acrylic, on cotton rag paper. 
​Private collection, Wichita, KS.
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Denita Benyshek (August 22, 2024). In the Sweep of Time.
Ink, chalk pastel, pencil, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
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Denita Benyshek (September 2, 2024). Gratitude. 
Private collection, Wichita, KS.
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Denita Benyshek (September 5, 2024). A Tree Sending Me Love.
Acrylic, ink, on cotton rag paper.
​Private collection, Austin, TX.

Denita Benyshek (September 16, 2024). In the Garden, Stars.
Acrylic, ink, watercolor, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
Private collection, Berkeley, CA.
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Denita Benyshek (September 18, 2024). Oasis.
Ink, chalk pastel, on cotton rag paper.
Private collection, Wichita, KS.

Denita Benyshek (September 18, 2024). A Star in the Heart of the Forest.
Ink, acrylic, chalk pastel pencil, on cotton rag paper. 18" x 12".
Private collection, Wichita, KS.

Denita Benyshek (September 19, 2024). The Maker of Flowers.
Ink, chalk pastel, watercolor, archival pigment ink on cotton rag paper.
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Denita Benyshek (September 20, 2024). Prow of the Ship. 
Ink, acrylic, chalk pastel on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
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Denita Benyshek (September 26, 2024). Land of the Faie. 
​Ink, chalk pastel, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
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Denita Benyshek. The Twins (Remembering their Mother). 
Private collection, Kailua, HI.
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Denita Benyshek, Bluebird, Choosing a Direction. 
​Acrylic, ink, watercolor, on cotton rag paper. 12" x 18".
​Private collection, Kailua, HI.
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Denita Benyshek, work in process. I Look at the Earth and See Heaven.
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Denita Benyshek, work in process. You See How Simple It All Is.
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Denita Benyshek, work in process. ​What is Amazing?

Denita Benyshek, work in process. The Offering.
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Denita Benyshek, work in process.
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