When my friend saw my last blog with the laughing nun, she suggested it belong to a new category called "Healing Art." This piece will certainly be classified into the category as well.
How can we deliberately walk out of the influence of affluenza (a portmanteau of affluence and influenza used by critics of consumerism per Wikipedia)? I do not believe that affluenza epidemics are caused only by our excessive wealth seeking behaviors. I know a few, who seek prestige regardless their financial gains, also suffer from heavy unfulfilling feelings. I am in the same shoes. As I try to launch a new career as an artist, I hunger for recognitions rather than being satisfied with the fact that I am living the life I have dreamed of however humble it might be. I tell myself to not burden my conscience with too much ambitions. This sculpture is a tribute to my favorite novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. As Siddhartha soothed the agony of my youth, may this piece foster an oasis of serenity in those who have been seeking it. May this piece help you untwine yourself from human greed and find your own peace deep within you.
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When I meditate, I conjure up gratitude in order to efface distractive thoughts from entering my consciousness. In my imagination I would approach a person with a smile and bows. Sometimes I would say, “Thank you,” and bow deeper. Another time I would simply give him/her a big hug. My imagination would them leap to another person to share my appreciation with. He/she could be a family member, a relative or a friend. Other times I would go to hug a refugee, an indentured worker, an insect, a rodent, or a giant animal. I would dive deep into the sea to squeeze a turtle or fly high into the space to embrace the earth. I would purposely visualize the face of a person whom I dislike and thank him/her.
Time slips and street noise disappears when I meditate this way. The meditation lasts only for a few minutes. However, when I am done I feel peaceful as if the world has opened to me. It is so soothing to be appreciative even just in my imagination that the effect stays in me for the remainder of the day. "Who would want to buy a painting like this?" a friend asked me when he saw my drawing (posted below). "It doesn't matter," I answered to him, "because I made this for myself." Surprisingly more than two decades later, a woman inquired me of this buried artwork. I had moved five times since the drawing was made, and I was worried it might not be sellable. Last week, during the holidays, I took a roll of my old drawings out of a storage room. "The Midwest's dry weathers were like my Santa," I said in smile. They have preserved the conditions of my drawings very well.
P.S.
The inquiry to purchase this drawing was a scam. The woman insisted to email me her credit card number, its expiration date and security code even though my current store on Etsy accepts all the major credit cards, personal checks, and money orders. I am not sure how she could have stolen money from me, but when I declined to receive her credit card information via email she stopped contacting me. This time I caught it before being tricked, but this experience taught me to be extremely careful when I deal with online sales. |
About This Blog
This page is an window for you to see my creative process. I would like to encourage you to leave your comments here. What kind of thoughts did my art provoke you? What viewpoint do you agree/disagree to? Your feedback will feed my art going forward. Thank you.
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