My work has always involved in-depth cultural research, in an attempt to compensate for

my family’s lost Native culture. Nothing in the American culture remotely suits me, and an

unwelcome feeling of “not belonging” pervades my daily routine. So I rummage through

the remains of other cultures like my own to find a sense of home. Similarities found in past

studies of the religious beliefs and creation myths of Japan, Israel, Egypt, and various Native

tribes, plus Gnostic studies, has lead to my current involvement with the history of Iraq and its

surrounding areas. It is impossible, you see, to truly understand a culture unless you start from

the beginning.

My “In Countries Brutal” series involves extensive research on Sumer, an ancient culture

located in present day Iraq. I specifically researched the Sumerians’ supposed origins and their

creation story the Enuma Elish, with plans to combine this creation myth with my own writing

while conceptualizing paintings and other elements for this series. Displayed as an installation,

or as a selection of paintings on cloth with visible extensions onto the walls and ceiling, the

raw feeling of the paintings is intended to capture the untamed qualities of the Cradle of

Civilization at its origins, before civilization spread, and to invite the viewer to consider the true

Oneness shared by all people.

Sumer, which is sometimes described as the world’s oldest civilization, is known for

its ziggurats; its invention of writing; its depictions of gods whose bodies had peculiar

combinations of human and animal forms; and its advanced technology, particularly in

astronomy and astrology. They had a deep connection to other places in our Solar System.

This connection is captured in my work in the thin sheet paintings concerned with

gravitational weight and pull. According to the Enuma Elish, the gods who created man were

Lindsey Avery

known as the Annunaki, which translates to “those who fell” or “those who from the sky to

the earth came,” the literal equivalent to the Bible’s “Giants” and the Torah’s Nephilim. Also the

Sumerians mention the Garden of Eden, and the creation of mankind from a mix of “clay” and

the ghosts of slain gods.

This work is a culmination of over a decade of spiritual searching and deep examination of

cultural backgrounds, in a sort of quest to answer the unanswerable questions such as “Why

are we here?”