El sobredimensionamiento y otros recursos plásticos como representación de la capacidad extática–visionaria en el arte chamánico americano

Visionary shamanic art across American traditions often depicts figures with oversized heads, hands, feet, or other body parts, along with rays, auras, or appendages that convey energetic magnification. This trait is interpreted as an explicit representation of ecstatic or visionary capacity. The article draws on archaeological and contemporary records from pre-Hispanic and ethnographic iconography, offering a transcultural comparative perspective across different epochs and traditions to show how this iconographic resource expresses altered perception.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Este artículo explora uno de los principales rasgos del arte chamánico visionario: el sobredimensionamiento de las figuras o de algunas de sus partes significativas. A través de diversos registros arqueológicos y contemporáneos, se brindan elementos valiosos para interpretar como representaciones explícitas de la capacidad extática o visionaria, ciertas imágenes de arte prehispánico o etnográfico ligadas a tradiciones de prácticas chamánicas americanas, en las que se ha expresado la percepción de la magnificación energética a través de rayos, aureolas o apéndices diversos que expanden el tamaño de las cabezas, manos, pies u otras partes del cuerpo en forma desproporcionada respecto del resto de la figura antropomorfa. Se consideran ejemplos de diversas épocas y tradiciones, para dar a este recurso iconográfico una perspectiva comparativa transcultural. This article explores one of the main traits of visionary shamanic art: the oversizing of the images or of some of their significant parts. Through several archaeological and contemporary records, it provides valuable elements for interpreting certain pre-Hispanic or ethnographic iconography related to American shamanic practices, as explicit representations of the ecstatic and visionary capacity. These images express the perceptual energetic magnification through rays, auras or diverse kinds of appendages that expand the size of heads, hands, feet or other parts of the body of the anthropomorphic figure in a disproportionate way. Examples are taken from different epochs and cultural traditions, in order to show this iconographic resource in a transcultural comparative perspective.