The Artist & Practitioner
Imelda Almqvist lives and works in London, where she combines her shamanic practice with painting. Her work emerges from a deep engagement with inner worlds, other worlds, and the mythologies and sacred traditions of cultures across the globe. Her paintings are held in art collections worldwide.
She draws inspiration from dreams, spiritual journeys, and the unseen realms — translating visionary experience into vivid, symbolic imagery. Her creative process is rooted in the understanding that art can be a bridge between worlds.
Imelda Almqvist's artistic practice is a form of visual shamanism, where each painting becomes a gateway to inner and other worlds. Her work does not simply depict landscapes or figures but rather opens portals to the dreamtime, the cosmos, and the mythic realms that have inspired humanity since ancient times. Drawing on sacred traditions from Siberia to Mesoamerica, from Native American spirituality to the goddess cultures of old Europe, she translates visionary experiences into vivid, symbolic imagery. The creative process itself is a journey, a deliberate crossing of thresholds into unseen territories where spirits, ancestors, and archetypal beings reveal themselves through color and form.
The themes that recur throughout Imelda's paintings speak to the universal human experience of seeking connection with something greater than oneself. Angels, gods and goddesses, sacred beasts, and wise maidens populate her canvases alongside labyrinths, inuksuit, and cosmic geometries. Motherhood, loss, and the soul's journey through life and death are explored with a tenderness that honors both the light and shadow of existence. Her work also reflects a deep reverence for the natural world, from ancient rock formations and trees to the ravens and killer whales of the Pacific Northwest, each creature carrying its own story and spiritual significance.
Based in London but with paintings held in collections around the world, Imelda Almqvist bridges the role of artist and shamanic practitioner in a seamless whole. Her art is not separate from her spiritual work but an extension of it, a visual language that speaks directly to the soul. She also teaches and offers training programs that introduce others to the sacred art of journeying between worlds. Through her paintings, poetry, and teaching, she invites viewers and students alike to remember that the other world is never far away, and that art itself can be a path of healing, transformation, and deep remembering.
Sacred Art & Teaching
Alongside her painting practice, Imelda teaches sacred art through a programme of courses and professional trainings. Her offerings include:
- 2-day introduction courses in sacred art
- A 2-year training programme in London, UK
- A 2-year professional training in Pennsylvania, USA
Her teaching invites students to explore their own creative and spiritual depths, using art as a tool for transformation and connection.
Themes & Inspirations
Imelda's paintings explore a wide range of themes — from Dreamtime and Mathematics to Language, Shamanism, and the mythologies of Inuit, Norse, Mesoamerican, and other cultures. Each series reflects a journey into a particular body of stories, symbols, or ideas, rendered through her distinctive shamanic lens.
