“Menu, Lord of Ecstasy ”. Number 3 of the Icons of Kemet Series by Ptahmassu Nofra-Uaa. Opaque layered natural mineral watercolor on 18” x 24” Strathmore 300 Series cold press watercolor paper. 22 karat gold embellishment.   This is a work currently in progress. Photo copyright © 2011 Mariusz Blach photography.

Menu (or Min) is an ancient and important aspect of the great “King of the Gods” Amun-Ra, and was the primary deity honored at Ipet-resyt or Luxor Temple. As the patron of Luxor Temple, Amun-Menu was adored in the guise of Kamutef, “Bull of His Mother”, the blue-black skinned and ithyphallic fertility god responsible for the rejuvenation of king and country during the sumptuous annual Feast of Opet. Menu was also the custodian of regeneration during the lunar harvest festival known as the “Going Forth of Menu”. Fundamentally a god of potent fertility and sexuality, the Greeks identified Menu with their own god of rampant male sexuality and promiscuity, Pan.

Though homosexuality is known to have existed in ancient Egypt, it was not represented in art, and had only somewhat dubious mention in myths and texts. However, I was inspired by the god to portray him as divine inspiration for male-to-male erotic love, as protector and empowerment for those men who find physical, emotional and spiritual fulfillment in other men.

My portrayal of Menu uses both traditional two-dimensional Egyptian perspective (the standard canon of ancient Egyptian art) and aspects of modern three-dimensional shading and perspective to capture the startling and erotic physique of the god. Rising up from the lotus of creation sporting his massive signature erection, Menu is arrayed with his flail-scepter of power, heavy gold lotus collar, and a pectoral necklace displaying some of the deity's most ancient iconographic designs. Surrounding the god on both sides are eight male couples engaged in various acts of sexual dalliance, the erotic delights of men enthused by the potent influence of Menu as patron of male sexuality.

Details from "Menu, Lord of Ecstasy". (1) The God Menu (Greek Min) crowned and bejeweled with sacred ornaments. (3) The God's feet emerge from the sacred blue lotus, springing up from the skin of the celestial leopard. (2) Eager lovers sport beneath a temple's grape-laden canopy on a night crowned by the full moon. Photo copyright © 2011 Mariusz Blach photography.

The aim of my life has always been to create, thus the life of an artist is, to me, the highest calling I could aspire to. Simply put, the artistic life is creation. This pairs well with my other lifetime aspiration, and that is direct communion with the Divine. When we as artists are engaged in the act of creation we are as close to being a god (or God) as it is possible to be in mortal form. For a god has the power to bring form life and form from nothing, and that is precisely what a true artist does.

As gay people we are often told by mainstream society and religion that our sexuality is a sin...that it is the very essence of the sin that prevents man from uniting with God. And yet something deep within me dispelled such notions and urged me to look to the art of the past for an answer as to the question of mankind's separation from God- truth or fallacy?

As a boy I saw the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Caravaggio and other masters who had created the cornerstone works of Western religious art, and realized that here was the material proof that man not only embodies the Divine, but can become the Creator by channeling the creative impulse through sacred works that bring the viewer into direct contact with the realm of the Soul.

I have spent my artistic life studying the religious icons of every tradition and time, striving to understand how any work (such as the Sistine Chapel or Virgin of Guadalupe) can emit the spark of grace or presence of the Sacred. It has been my educational goal, as I have trained in various mediums, to become one of those artists capable of transmitting the actual power of the Divinity to my viewer.

I am a practitioner of the Kemetic or ancient Egyptian religion, and have studied the temple and tomb art of the Egyptians for 31 years now. I feel that few cultures have been as saturated with the color, symbolism and power of esoteric or spiritual art as the ancient Egyptians. They were a culture dominated by images, and believed that these not only represented the abstract, but actually manifested it as a dwelling place of the Divine.

My own style of iconography uses traditional Egyptian forms, symbols and principles and combines these with three dimensional elements that can read to contemporary viewers without distracting from an authentically Egyptian presence. Secondly, my icons are charged with the same ritual qualities of sacred awakening used by Egyptian priests and artisans in order to give their works a creative force all its own. It is my hope that what I am doing can touch not only my fellow artists in the GLBT community, but a wider audience of people desiring a unique kind of art that connects ancient and modern, human and Divine, in a way that is somehow familiar to the Spirit. Blessings.