The Ones Who Reproduce
1994, 72" by 90", oil on canvas
They are, of course, women, but I also refer to
the south Asian artists who have, for thousands of years, re-traced
classic forms and re-drawn or re-carved favorite iconographical
sacred forms.
To paint a Buddha, for example, in a classic form:
is this "original" art? For me, one of the questions which
traditional south Asian art raises is: from what accomplishment
may an artist take satisfaction, or by what standard may she be
highly valued as an artist?
Is such "worth" from being "original,"
and from doing something no one else has done, and from selling
this unique commodity?
In the West, we take pride
in that effort and think of those orientations as artistic.
But the south Indian ones who reproduce old forms
do not typically sign their names to their art.
They join a tradition, anonymously, and their art
is to have tried to do as their teachers have shown; and to have
had the patience and skill to try to follow another skillful person's
ancient paths.
Note: in this and a few other paintings, you can
see the swastika. I paint it very deliberately, to recover it from
its abuse by Hitler's Reich, who stole it.
The "swasti" is an ancient south Asian
symbol, which depicts the four winds or directions, and the center.
Its meaning is that anything you need will eventually, through turns,
find its way to you.
You see this symbol often in south Asia, and it
indicates a safe place, a path or place where healing can happen.
|
