Therapy I - IV: Om Mane Padme Hum
I Am The Lotus
Quartet of 12”x12” panels
Black acrylic and rose gold leaf on canvas
This quartet of paintings is an allegory for therapy. Using the motif of the lotus flower, symbolic in both Hinduism and Buddhism, this quartet acknowledges the shadow self, and the process of healing from trauma. Depending on your perspective, the process of growth can be healing, overwhelming, suffocating, expanding. The journey is not linear; it does not follow a script. Depending on where we are in any given moment, we find ourselves squinting into the dark, or floating into hope.
Therapy I: Om
Using matte and glossy black, this piece highlights the hidden, invisible, pulsing reality of depression. It acknowledges the difficulty of discerning what is fundamental, the challenge of separating our sense of personhood from our emotions.
Therapy II: Mane
This piece is the first promise beyond the bleakness of depression, allowing glimpses of hope. The breakthrough eureka moments. The presence of the lotus striving forth from the murky swamps, offers unparalleled beauty co-existing with shadow of the swamp.
Therapy III: Padme
This panel overwhelms with the proximity of the shadow self. The size and organic asymmetry of the lotus is a metaphor for the panic and discomfort we feel when we examine our shadow selves up close. While there is the recognition and therefore solace in knowledge, the panic of seeing our shadows up close, can loom large.
Therapy IV: Hum
A close-up of the cellular structure of the lotus exemplifies the surprising beauty that awaits when we integrate our darkness. The flow of the cells looks beyond duality, moving toward sublimation.