HUNTOPIA - Catalog - Page 36
T H O R N TO N
There is a séance room in the exhibition dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. Among your paintings there are
also numerous homages not only to revered saints, but also to film star Rudolph Valentino, and countesses
including Xacha Obrenevitch. Can you talk about your spiritual connection to these historical figures?
SLO N E M
Yes … the Countess, she was a friend of Rudolph Valentino. Well, I learn of these people through mediums
very often. Valentino played a huge role and he was the first American superstar ever. And he was
murdered; he only lived to twenty-nine. Can you imagine what a huge life? He had to do this starting with
nothing and he’s very revered, in art circles. His films aren’t watched night and day anymore: the real record
of the 1920s and how fabulous it was. I revere Lincoln. His wife Mary Todd had séances at the White
House almost every night, and that interested me. She was also a shopaholic. But it turns out there’s a book
called The Psychic Life of Abraham Lincoln that somebody in Baton Rouge gave me, and he [Lincoln]
actually went to mediums every day and fought the Civil War through their advice … he was just a super
human being with a foresight of magnitude …. I’m just moved to tears every time I encounter the material
on his life. And fascinated by her [Mary Todd Lincoln]; once chastised at a party at the White House,
they said, “Madame, you’ve spent four years of your husband’s salary redecorating the White House.” She said,
“Sir, when I came here there were mushrooms growing out of the walls.” She was really our first Jackie O,
but she was not popular and hasn’t been made popular since. But she was quite a force in her own
right. Anyway, I’ve just had umpteen million experiences of Lincoln and his advice from the other worlds.
He told me to paint the dove as a symbol of peace. I call them Abraham’s Peace Plan.
T H O R N TO N
At the end of the day, what do you most want to convey to visitors of all ages and backgrounds?
SLO N E M
Upliftment, peace, awareness of the magnificent natural world that the work comes from. Healing, reverence
for the planet. And sharing my vision, which I take no credit for. It’s all a gift from the universe. I hope I
have something that touches people and I’m always enormously thrilled to have an opportunity to do such a
big project. I hope it brings a little enlightenment in the kind of troubled world that we live in today.
September 17, 2019
34