Deepak Joshi: Artist-in-Residence
February 19-26, 2003
In August 2000, the Ackland Art Museum commissioned Deepak Joshi to create a new tangka for the Ackland's permanent collection. A tangka (known as paubha in Nepal) is a
scroll painting used for meditation and rituals. The Ackland painting is a mandala
dedicated to the deities Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi whose intertwining image appears in the center. Symbolizing the union of male and female cosmic energy and the dissolution of opposites, the deities function to focus the devotee's powers of visualization on attaining enlightenment. On another level, the figures of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi represent the enlightened mind where wisdom and compassion merge to replace the self-centered ego. Within a ritual setting, this image would only be viewed by a few of the most advanced initiates studying the secret Tantric texts dedicated to the deities. These sacred writings offer the means for achieving enlightenment more quickly, often in a single lifetime.
Joshi began painting at the age of thirteen and trained under master artists who passed on to him the indigenous Newari style of painting. Residing in Kathmandu, Joshi enriched his art by studying yoga and Tantric Buddhism. The artist's fascination with western landscape painting led him to personalize his tangka by setting it within the Kathmandu Valley and Himalayan Mountains. Intimate details from nature can be glimpsed throughout the composition. Four standing goddesses, patron deities still worshipped by the residents of the valley today, flank the mandala at the corners. Other figures include (top center) Aksobhya Buddha, the transcendent Buddha associated with the eastern direction, and (bottom center) two forms of Tara, the female Bodhisattva who removes obstacles to enlightenment.
The process of creating an intricate mandala is time-consuming and, in the Ackland's example, took over two years to complete. Joshi adheres to the traditional practice of grinding his own pigments from minerals and then mixing them with animal glue. Before applying colors, every inch of the composition is elaborately drawn in graphite on the linen material.
The artist will be in residence at the Ackland to demonstrate the art of making tangkas and to discuss the symbolism of his painting.
Please join us in the Ackland's Yager Gallery on the following days and times:
February 19 - 21, 2003
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
February 22 - 23, 2003
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Joshi will also give two gallery talks:
February 23, 2003
3:00 p.m.
February 26, 2003
12:15 p.m.
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