Diego Peña: Visionary Abstractions on the Medicine Path
Abstract Impressionist artist Diego Peña creates from a vision deeply rooted in the medicine path. His work pierces through layers of personal healing experiences, plant spirit worlds, the mythologies and worldviews of these traditions, and the sacred landscapes they inhabit. For Diego, these elements are inseparable—woven together as part of the greater fabric of the plant medicine healing experience.
Diego’s personal journey has centered on Peyote and Ayahuasca, and the Indigenous communities who hold these medicines: the Wixárika and the Shipibo.
His Peyote-inspired works are populated with sacred symbols: Peyote buttons that signify humanity’s connection to the divine, the blue deer (Kauyumari)—the guardian and symbol of Peyote—and the sweeping desert landscapes of Wirikuta, where the Wixárika make their annual pilgrimage. The geometry and textures recall Wixárika textiles, while embroidered natural fibers lend tactile depth, evoking the ceremonial beauty of the desert.
More recent works draw from his practice of Sama (plant diet) in the Peruvian Amazon, where participants enter into communion with plant spirits, often great trees, for weeks at a time. These paintings capture encounters with plant teachers, visionary animals, mythic colors, and the geometric currents of Ayahuasca visions. Where his Peyote pieces carry the muted, earthen hues of the desert, his Ayahuasca works glow with luminous, vibrant palettes that echo the dazzling inner worlds revealed by the medicine.
Observing the rise of psychedelics in mainstream culture, Diego created a spin-off series titled Mind-Shaping Lifesavers. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s Lifesaver advertisement, the series blends motifs from both Peyote and Ayahuasca traditions. The term “Lifesaver” plays on the medicines’ potential to truly save lives, honoring their healing role within their cultural origins.
Across his body of work, Diego explores recurring themes:
- The syncretization of sacred symbols between Indigenous and colonial cultures
- The juxtaposition of the mystical and the everyday
- The healing power of animal totems
- The role of medicine practices in reconnecting us to our own divinity
The role of medicine practices in reconnecting us to our own divinity
Through these explorations, Diego Peña’s art becomes not just a reflection of his path, but an invitation to remember the sacred threads that bind us to spirit, culture, and nature.