PRIMORDIAL LINE

I - I- KUAN-CHIH

ALL EMBRACING ONENESS

SHI TAO  Late 17th C Chinese painter

Shi Tao is one of my favorite Chinese painters.  He was an individualist in character and in his style of painting.  I'am  aways  inspired by  looking at his paintings and his writings. I was reading some of them two days ago and again realized how important his words were for me and for the artists of today. I would like to share some of his thoughts with you.  The following are a few of his quotes:

        " Primordial line  is the basis of all things and the root of a myriad phenomena : it  encompasses the infinity of creation.

         Painting of oneness:  my Tao is that of an all embracing oneness.

          If the world only knows the ruler and compass, but not the principles of rotation of heaven and earth, then Heaven and Earth will tie people up with methods and people will bind themselves by becoming servants to method."

  I see this happening to us today.  Many artists concentrate on method and concept with out meaning  and content.  Much art for me today is "clever" and with out depth and meaning.  shocking or clever with material and images that impact us with no relevance for enriching our lives. Shallow and clever, shocking and a blast to the eyes and brain with out taking us deeper.

" Shi- Tao saw himself at he center of a holistic universe  which was the origin of himself and the world, the past and the present. 

     POEM:   BEATING DRUMS WITH A CYPRESS WOOD STICK,

                   OR WRITING CALLIGRAPHY WITH A SHEEP HAIR BRUSH,

                   WHAT MATTERS MOST IS THE SATISFACTION OF THE MOMENT,

                   AND NEVER MIND SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN THE EYES OF POSTERITY,

                   BUT UNLESS THE PAINTER HAS THE HAND THAT CAN KILL AND BREAK THROUGH  

                            

                   PASSES,   HOW DARE ONE PLAY WITH A PAINTING BRUSH.

Wow what character, Courage, endurance , and  integrity.  Something to live up to!!

He also talks about " cultivating the right state of mind while painting. and the last is  

"I depend neither on mountains, nor on water, neither on brush nor ink, neither on present, nor on any ancient sages--- I depend only on what  I am able to nourish and draw upon myself.

WARI  ANDEAN EXHIBITION 

A good friend and I went to this exhibition in Cleveland , The Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio.

We arrive in the center of Cleveland and our hotel the Glidden House.  We were surprised by all the interesting contemporary architecture  that surrounded us and that we could walk to with in a few blocks of our hotel.  The Art Museum has just opened their now wing and restaurant which is in the new spacious atrium.  For me the show was superb and the lecture that we attended that night by Susan Bergh was interesting.  As you can see above the pottery  was exceptional. Shown here  is a chicha vessel ( sacred drink, native corn beer) from which people would be served during feasting rituals.

The textiles were to die for and sometimes they did!  Here is one of the main deities woven in an abstracted manner he Staff God.

The next day I went back to the exhibition alone. Just to sit and absorb all that was there. As I looked at this textile and its' abstraction of the Staff God I felt that this one in particular was about transformation.  From my Shamanic experiences in Peru I felt that this  textile was about moving from one state of being to another.  It was not just an aesthetic choice of the weaver but could be read  on one level as the movement from one reality to another.  As this was a common practice among shamans of all cultures. Not only could this be read on the level of depicting the deity but could be read on many different complex levels and I even thought that each small design unit could carry a meaning or a reenforcing  meaning , a deeper meaning of the deity and its place in the culture.

I hope that who ever reads this can go to this exhibition it well worth the trip and opens new thoughts on the little known Wari culture of ancient Peru.

  

 

EXHIBITION IN CUSCO PERU

 I was invited to have an exhibition of my paintings this summer at the ESQUELA SUPERIOR AUTONOMA CE BELLAS ARTES ' DIEGO QUISPE TITO' DEL CUSCO.  It was an honor to be invited to show my paintings there and to meet the students and artists of Cusco.

These are paintings of the Energies and Power of the Mountains in Peru.  Not their appearance but the hidden reality behind the surface.  I also gave an hour long power point presentation on my background, what inspired me to make these paintings and the influences on me to work as I do; such as my work with my shaman teacher Theo Paredes , with whom I have worked with for 14 yeas, my studies of chinese painting , Andean ancient cultures  and of course the power and energies that I felt and intuited while I was in Peru.  The paintings were very  well received and understood.  The school asked if they could show them at various other art schools throughout Peru.   

     

SOME WHERE BETWEEN DRAWING AND PAINTING

    "we who draw do so not only to make something observed visible to others, but also to accompany something invisible to its incalculable destination"
                                                                                                           John Berger, 'Bento's sketchbook'

mountains of peru, 1993, sumi ink & handmade paper

36 1/2" X23 1/2"

Mountains of Peru, 1993, Sumi ink & handmade paper

36 1/2" X23 1/2"

Mountains of Peru, 1993, sumi ink & handmade paper

36 1/2" X 23 1/2"

Some where between drawing and painting.  I have been studying the history of Chinese paintings for many years now and have been using the brushes and paper that they have used .  Trying to put the 'breath of spirit " in the lines that I draw with that lushes black ink.  All the while trying to express the essence of the mountains, their rhythms, and patterns, their meeting with the sky , wind and water.

   In April of 2010  , I made a trip to Virginia to the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

The next three ink drawings  are my attempt to put down the inner essence of these mountains. 

Blue  Ridge Mountains of Virginia, 2011

rice paper & sumi ink 25 1/2"X18"

Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia 2011, rice paper & sumi  ink

25 1/2" X18"

In this painting I tried to keep closer to the traditional Chinese painting  but as I was not trained in it I have tried to use their design structure of the zig zag going back into space.

Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia 2011, rice paper & sumi ink

25 1/2" X 18"

The mountain is a symbol in all cultures.  Usually it is the abode of the gods. or a place for the immortals or the ancestors.  a sacred place.  In Peru it is a god or goddess. A living entity named Apu. For me it is all this and more.

Despair and Hope

Hope and Despair make up the whole. I have been feeling despair over the dire predictions  for the survival of us humans and  the failure of our leaders to make the changes that need to be made. I have been reading a lot about what is wrong,  the hopeless state of politics and the condition of our shared earth and all its beauty. what came to mind was some color copy prints that I made in the middle 90s of the earth burning.   At that time I was disturbed by these images but didn't quite know their meaning. I could see both the destruction and the hope but was uncertain to their overarching meaning. Were these images prophesies of the future? or were they inward images of my own psyche?  Below are 4 images that I picked from the series of about 20 images.   The sequence is one of destruction to hope.

Isis, earth and sky , light of hope from the cave
color copy print 11"X 17"


All of these prints are cropped from their original format of 11"X17" in order to fit on my scanner.




As I thought about what I had been reading and looking at these prints I wondered why I was painting 

birds.  Birds in flight, transforming, Birds symbolizing the soul.












Theses are images that I am working on now.  They are filled with life and  the soul transforming. Transforming into what??   From my shamanic training  I see that the birds are at the gateway , we as a specious are at an important gateway.  we can call this gateway the sun, the black hole, the void or God.  But one has to have courage to pass through, some of the birds , souls. have already passed through and been transformed others are about to enter or are leaving.  I wonder which one is me? and I am asking the viewer which one are they? 

symbol of protection or gardian of the gate way & sacred cloths of Bali

Bali trip continued

This the guardian figure / mask was over the doorway to our room, Actually  there were three. This called a Kala or Makara kala.  It is a protective symbol and is used throughout South East Asia. The Kala is the doorway keeper of death and life,and as such has great powers. It keeps one out if you are not strong enough to face what lies behind it and eats those who have evil intent.

Here are some photos of sacred cloths that are used & or worn in the temples during various rituals.

These cloths are hand spun,hand dyed with natural dyes and hand woven on back strap looms. There is a concerted  effort to keep alive these hand made textiles.  The textiles seen above are called Songet, a supplemental weave and are woven in the town of Sidiman. A village surrounded by rice fields.
I think one of the things that impressed me or inspired me about these textiles were the woven symbols in repeated patterns reminding of the gamalong music also repeated patterns of sound.

view of borobudur levels & Bali lotus plants

Travel to Sacred Sites

Sacred sites  have been my passion for as long as I can remember.  Borobudur is the latest one that I have visited.  To be there in person is such a different experience; the climate, the scale, and the texture of the stone carvings all add up to seeing and feeling with a deeper sense of what was the original intent of the builders.  This was for me a modern day pilgrimage as was each of my other trips to ancient sacred sights in the past.  What do I learn from each of these visits? How is my art influenced by these visits? These are questions I ask myself. I realised that for me, these visits to sacred sites open a window into the past as well as into the present and future.  It is 'the eternal return' which is held in material form in these ancient sites  which in turn holds all time past present and future.  How does this interact or influence my art work?   By putting me in a state of being so that I can hold that sense of the eternal or I can at least touch it long enough to point me the right direction to begin my art work

9thC. Buddhist monument Borobudur on the island of Java

As I promised in the last posting the 9thC. Buddhist  monument Borobudur on the island of Java only one hour by air from Bali.  I arrived 2 days early in order to see this UNISCO historic  Temple,Stupa, Mandala site.  It is a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time. It was for pilgrims to climb and walk circumambulating the many levels of the temple.  As I walked and climbed higher and higher I thought of those from the past , who with prayers, wound their up and around these same platforms. Every wall has carved stone panels of Buddha's life on them.  At the lowest levels, each was crowded with everyday people and as one climbed higher the carvings became more spiritual in their content.  Until finally the last level opened to the sky and the great void summarized by the great last stupa on top of the  moument.

Trip to Bali

Bali is just like all the tour books say and more.  Despite  the heat and the 200% humidity I enjoyed  it all,the people. their culture, arts, crafts, and textiles. The name of the trip was
Bali fiber Tour, lead by Barbara Alexander. Barb is the former owner of Batik Butick which was and is a company designing , selling and making batik fabrics in Bali Indonesia.
  Textiles were the focus of the trip. From the sacred to the everyday life, textiles act as an important element to hold and give meaning to their culture.  The Hindu religion is where the people derive their sense of harmony in their lives. It is a place of balance, the place between opposites constantly being held to. Next time Boroburdur (a Buddhist temple, stupa monument) on the island of Java an hour air flight away.