Meet Abigail Kochunas | Artist & Trauma-Informed Reiki Practitioner/Animal Communicator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abigail Kochunas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abigail, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
It’s the only thing that ever made sense to me. It’s my purpose. Art speaks a universal language that can have a deep and lasting impact on people. It wakes people up from sleepwalking through life. It defines and leads movements. I have always known I was supposed to help humanity through art. I recently published a piece on Substack, “I create art, not content: The artist’s manifesto” that really speaks to my perspective on the creative process, the power and value of art to humanity, and artistic integrity – that’s key for me, the integrity.

Whether it’s painting, writing, acting or even my holistic healing work – which is an art – the act of creating is very much a spiritual process. I think all artists, in essence, are channeling from the Divine or the collective consciousness or both and then bringing it to life through their unique perspective, heart and wisdom. The ideas are always here, all around – and it’s our job as artists to catch them and then birth them into existence.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
By trade, I’m an actor, but during the pandemic I returned to my first loves: painting and writing. The paintings came first and that was the beginning of my business Sacred Healing Art, which expanded in 2022 to include my healing work with people and animals. Essentially it’s a holistic healing platform that bridges art, spirituality and trauma-informed healing/vibrational medicine through a variety of services, products, and of course, artwork to Awaken, Heal, Evolve, and Uplift humanity. I use a comprehensive approach in my work – color, scent, sound, touch – to create a full sensory experience.

The paintings are three-dimensional mixed media pieces that incorporate color therapy and crystal energy to create a functional healing art piece. “Frequency Shifting Art” I call it. And every piece comes with a poetic story or healing intention that I write. It started with this collection of crystals I inherited from my grandfather. Back in the 70s he was collecting, tumbling and polishing them and making jewelry. After he passed in 2014, I often felt his presence and got messages from him. During lockdown, I got deep into meditation, and it was in one of these meditations that I saw the image of my first painting with his crystals on it. Since I wasn’t able to be there when he passed, creating this art feels like my way of nurturing and honoring our ancestral connection, of being able to say thank you and I love you to him.

The inspiration for my use of color started years ago when I first moved to LA. I was at LACMA sort of breezing through the abstract art as it never really interested me much, and this painting with these rich, deep hues of red, reddish orange and white engulfed my attention. I sat down in front of it, just being present with it for a long time. The visceral experience of how those colors made me feel – I’ll never forget that. I’ve never had a painting impact me in that way. That piece was “White Center” by Mark Rothko. A few years later, the inspiration came full circle for me as an actor when I saw a production of “Red” starring Alfred Molina based on the life of Mark Rothko – live painting on stage and everything. It was stunning.

I’ve found the act of creating art is healing. And to witness and experience art is healing. Art has always been my way of processing life, of making sense of things and transmuting trauma. Creating this body of work became a process of reclaiming my freedom, sense of self and personal power after a significant period of trauma. This work changed my acting, it changed my writing, it changed me. I’ve really come home to myself now and developed a much stronger artistic point-of-view.

My artwork was recently in a show at the Emerging Artists Gallery in Los Angeles. It’s funny, every person I meet in the art world keeps telling me that no one else is doing what I’m doing, that it’s just amazing. I’ve been lucky enough to sell several pieces, but just as many people see my work and keep on walking…we’re talking zero interest haha. And I’m an artist, we’re sensitive to rejection. But what’s evolved is this beautiful lesson in self-worth and knowing my value. I’ve stopped needing the validation of selling a painting or [as every actor knows] needing the validation of booking a job. There’s so much more joy and play in the work now.

It’s taken me a couple decades to get to this point and it wasn’t easy – there was burnout…artistic stagnation. I learned very young as a teen model living in New York that I was too pretty, but not pretty enough, too short and too tall…too fat, too thin, too old, too young…all the “reasons” why I wasn’t worthy or valuable. (I have also been told many of these same things as an actor). I think a lot of people can relate to that. No matter what our career path or life’s work, so many of us have been told any number of reasons why we aren’t good enough or why we can’t do something. I think many of us have followed all the “rules’ we were supposed to and still didn’t “win.” There’s A LOT of societal programming we would do well to let go of. I had to unlearn and unsubscribe from many cultural paradigms and how-to formulas for “success.” And that’s big in the entertainment industry here. Because all those things that get told to us – they’re lies. Their just someone else’s projection veiled as an “opinion.” We ultimately have to love and trust ourselves more. I had to realize my own intrinsic value and recognize that I’m not everyone’s flavor, not everyone will like my work, and I won’t always fit into societal norms. and that’s amazing.

When I come from that place of intrinsic value, then my instrument is open and free to create from a space of truth and connection that’s aligned with my artistic point-of-view. That’s artistic integrity, which is the most important thing. It’s not my job to follow the current trends. As an artist, I set the trend. Artists…we’re outside-the-box, we don’t follow the rules (most of which are arbitrary and made-up anyway). We’re the revolutionaries, the way-showers and the changemakers. All the legendary artists of impact were and are. We innovate and shake things up, excite you, move you. That’s why we’re here – to shift humanity.

My job, then, is to protect and nurture that inner value, that open and free state within myself and to be present, so that I am creating from my heart and with integrity. That’s when it’s authentic and truthful. That’s when the magic happens and it resonates with people. My work is spiritual, emotional, metaphysical, non-linear…maybe too “woo” or esoteric for some. Not everyone will get me or my work or like it or buy it or hire me, and they don’t have to. Because I LOVE what I get to do and who I get to connect and work with. That’s the beauty of this diverse, multi-faceted human experience. There is so much richness and variety of expression that we owe it to humanity to tap into the deep well of our own unique perspective and go all the way in sharing it.

The last five years have been the most transformative for me artistically (and personally). There’s been this weaving together of these three artistic disciplines. As I continue painting, that craft informs my acting and writing. As I write more it informs my acting and painting. As my acting deepens it informs my painting and writing. It’s like a perfect triangle, a holy trinity. Add in my energy work with Reiki, sound, crystals and aromatherapy and it becomes a perfect circle. Infinite, interwoven and harmonious. Whether I’m working with people or animals, there’s a level of presence that must be there in order for me to do the work. It’s the same presence required for the creative process. There’s just this beautiful symmetry and symbiotic relationship between the artistic and healing disciplines.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I have a friend visiting LA, they’re getting a lot of nature, art and good food. A hike in Franklin Canyon Park, which is one of my favorite hidden gem hiking spots in LA. It’s never crowded and there’s tons of trails off the beaten path. I always feel very connected there. Speaking of, we’ll have to take an overnight hiking trip to Joshua Tree – my other nature sanctuary of stillness. Those places are such good food for the soul.

Then there’s El Pescador Beach in Malibu, close to Ventura, I LOVE cooking so I’d probably prepare a very extravagant picnic. My other must-visits are LACMA and The Broad, maybe a walk through the Arts District with dinner at Manuela; The Gentle Barn out in Santa Clarita for some cow hug therapy – the best animal sanctuary that’s also healing for people. I like supporting local, so we’d stop at Earthen Soul in Sherman Oaks – my favorite apothecary – for the best quality herbs I’ve found in LA, and the Brentwood Farmer’s market for just about everything. There’s too many favorite restaurants to get to, but I’m a big fan of Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza because, well, Nancy Silverton. And I really love the vegan pizza/pasta spot Donna Jean’s in Sherman Oaks.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Big shoutout to my family and friends, manager, agents and those who have been integral in my evolution as a human, healer and artist: my Reiki Master Melanie Esperon (Reiki Room SD), Rachel White (Totem Readings), Nacho Arimany (Arimany Method), Rod Dyer, Julie Kartalian and the BGB Studio.

Website: https://www.sacredhealingartla.com

Instagram: @sacredhealing_art @abigailonfire

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailkochunas/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sacred-healing-art-san-fernando-valley

Other: This Awakened Life on Substack: https://abigailkochunas.substack.com/

Image Credits
Headshot by Paul Smith