Immanence

Manifestations of the divine in the everyday

To me, organisms in the natural world are symbols of a higher meaning. The natural world is a ‘language’ which cannot be described in words. It can only be felt. It sounds a note of recognition within me, but what it is that I recognise I cannot explain.

I believe that each living thing contains within it, at some level, a map of the whole. All things in nature are interconnected. The world is composed of living strands which interlock and intertwine endlessly. Where does one thing end, and the next begin?

In the four large works below I chose to use images of Buddhist mudras. Mudras are ritualistic hand gestures used as a preparation for meditation. The mudras provide visual symbols which represent a connection between the divine and the mundane. They also have a strong personal meaning for me, since I learned them while I was doing Buddhist practices. The mudras I have used represent four of the eight traditional offerings which are often placed on a Buddhist shrine: bathing water, flowers, perfume and music. The titles of the drawings are the Sanskrit names for the offerings.
Hands are doubly appropriate as symbols of divinity because they are the tools of creation. So, these drawings can be seen both as representations of the act of creation, and the results of that creation. These four drawings began with an underpainting in watercolour. I then worked into the painting with pencil and pastel.