Photo By Gail
In Buddhism, the Lotus symbolizes transcendence, as the flower emerges from stagnant water to bloom in bright colors. Here, the ceramicist Kawase Shinobu uses the clear blue celadon glaze known as seihakuji to capture the spiritual importance of a lotus bud. This vessel is designed to support burning incense sticks, with a lily-pad-shaped saucer to catch the falling ash.
Photographed in The Brooklyn Museum
Photos By Gail
On display in my apartment is a large Red Lucky Daruma doll, which was given to me about 25 years ago by a favorite (now ex) boyfriend . I never bothered to look up the legend of why these dolls are considered to be lucky, or why they look the way they do, but when I found this tiny pink one (about 2-inches around) at Pearl River Mart in the Chelsea Marketplace, I knew I had found this week’s Pink Thing, and was inspired to do some investigating.
Continue reading Pink Thing of The Day: Miniature Lucky Daruma
Image of Amida Buddha, Gold Leaf Over Wood, Kama-kura, Japan, 1742 (Photo By Gail)
Some forms of Japanese Buddhism are rooted in the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, school of belief. They regard Gautama, the Buddha of India, as only one of an almost endless sequence of Buddhas reaching back over an incomprehensible span of years. However, Amida Buddha is considered the Buddha yet to come; his invocation has been particularly important in Japan.
Photographed in the Museum of Natural History in NYC.
Tan Tan Bo – In Communication, 2014 (All Photos By Gail)
As much as everyone is already whining about the impending hellish winter that we are surely in for again this year, all you have to do is walk into the cavernous Gagosian Gallery space on West 24th Street and get an eyeful of the 18 foot high sculptures reaching towards the celing and 30 foot long murals unfurling across the walls in Takashi Murakami’s In The Land of The Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow to realize that — Polar Vortex be damned — New York City is the Center of The Universe, and that is where you want to be.
Continue reading Takashi Murakami’s In The Land of The Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow
Sacred Gallery NYC is pleased to announce: Damien Echols’ Moving Forward; Looking Back
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 5, 2013 8:00 – 11:00 PM
Artist Statement:
These pieces of art are all things I created from my cell on death row, where I spent 18 years for a crime I did not commit. During that time, I had to scavenge for any supplies I got, often bartering for them in the prison underground.
I eventually received ordination in the Rinzai tradition of Japanese Buddhism. This is the same tradition that trained the samurai in ancient Japan. It was this background which was the driving force behind much of my artwork. Most of it was the result of me attempting to turn my cell into a shrine, where I would practice meditation from 5 to 7 hours a day. Continue reading Damien Echols to Exhibit Original Artwork at NYC’s Sacred Gallery
