The artists interests and thoughts are reflected within their work. I recall an interview with Andy Warhol when asked why he painted the Campbells soup can. He shrugged and said, "because I have one for lunch every day."
The wider the artist expands his research the deeper the well of inspiration becomes. The occult has always been a subject of interest for artists of the left hand path. It is what Lord of the Rings must be for your average larper.
The more you dig the deeper you go and the branches bifurcate into endless options for exploration. Yet the artist must be of sound composure never letting the influence of the subject to fully enclose. One must sustain a stable operating system like a computer, recording the subject, processing it, and synthesizing the information pixel by pixel into something new. Why the artist chooses this path is most likely rooted in child hood. I recall my earliest introduction of the the occult at age 9 when at Sunday school, my teacher introduced a small book on the dangers of 666 and pentagrams. I was overcome by waves of curiously mixed with fear. After the class I approached the teacher and asked if I could take the book home. The teacher gave me a truly troubled look and asked why. "I would like to have further reading on the subject so I know what to watch out for." was my prevarication. She refused but from then on that I spent my time in library's and book stores in search of these forbidden books.
As of present I probably possess around 300 books on the occult, but have stopped the pursuit. Yet this knowledge, this search, is present in my work. The accumulated knowledge is there on the canvas, in one form or another, the inspiration no longer derived straight from the pages but processed and integrated from my thoughts and life, a synthesis of experience and past memories.
