This painting portrays the spirit of Amanita Muscaria and is part of a series on medicinal mushrooms.
Amanita Muscaria, commonly known as the red toadstool with white spots, is today often associated with commercial symbols such as the “lucky mushroom” or the iconic figure from the video game Super Mario. It is also linked, in some theories, to the image of Santa Claus, whose red-and-white colors are said to have been inspired by the mushroom. In modern Western consumer culture, these associations weave the mushroom into a playful, commercial narrative.
However, this modern, lighthearted perception stands in stark contrast to its original use.
The title “Veil of Forgetting” refers to the collective loss of memory regarding the deeper, spiritual dimension of this mushroom and contrasts this with its current perception as a cultural curiosity or a good luck charm.
The figure of the woman wearing an Amanita Muscaria cap points to an ancient, deeper symbolism: In shamanic cultures, the fly agaric mushroom served as a tool for journeying between worlds — between reality and dream, between this world and the beyond. This connection to transformation, altered states, and spiritual insight stands in opposition to the modern view of the mushroom as a poisonous, dangerous entity associated with death.
The red cap of the figure draws in the viewer — a striking, almost seductive color that simultaneously evokes discomfort, as it is linked to warning and taboo.
This image serves as an invitation for the viewer to engage with these contradictory aspects. It creates a bridge between the mystical, healing, and otherworldly qualities of the mushroom from times long past and its modern, rational categorization as toxic.
The viewer is encouraged to see the image as a kind of threshold — a threshold between the conscious and the unconscious, between the alluring and the threatening — and to ask themselves which Veil of Forgetting they might be carrying within their own life.