Yesterday I attended an opening of a collection of art by Newari artists – painters and sculptors mostly, although there was also a mandala modeled after the sand mandalas made of a variety of significant Newari items, such as grains, in addition to the colored sands. The gallery from which all the artwork was collected is called the Bodhisattva Gallery and is actually run by the husband of the director of HimRights/BBC. In fact, after work the entire HimRights crew trekked to the gallery opening. It was quite nice to be a part of such a wonderful collection of individuals…once again I gush about my coworkers :).
The art too, was quite spectacular. There were a few pieces that really drew my attention, but the ones I liked most, of course….were a series of four small 12 inch by 12 inch paintings of the heads of deities framed by a circle of bringt luminescent teal. They were painted by an artist who, I learned this morning, had a drug problem, but stopped doing drugs to paint. Apparently, he is a very talented painter who moved easily from painting to sculpture but has recently stopped making art and returned to drugs…
I also found the iconography fascinating. There was a painting of a the compassionate Green Tara holding a hand with the palm out to signify ‘giving’ and the other hand was holding a lotus to signify ‘protecting.’ It was beautiful to see and learn how the deities actually embody these concepts. It also gave me some good ideas about my Bagmati River Project…which will be revealed at a later date…don't worry - there will be no drugs involved.
