“We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.”
Australia (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2018.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
London
“Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.”
London (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2018.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Pacific Ocean
“O tiger’s heart wrapped in a woman’s hide!”
Pacific Ocean (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2018.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Portrait of a Man
“What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?”
Portrait of a Man (Velázquez Series).
13.97” by 10.23” (35.5 cm by 26 cm).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
South America
“I have lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats.”
South America (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Israel, Jordan
“It requires greater courage to preserve inner freedom, to move on in one’s inward journey into new realms, than to stand defiantly for outer freedom. It is often easier to play the martyr, as it is to be rash in battle. Strange as it sounds, steady, patient growth in freedom is probably the most difficult task of all, requiring the greatest courage. Thus if the term “hero” is used in this discussion at all, it must refer not to the special acts of outstanding persons, but to the heroic element potentially in every (hu)man.”
Israel, Jordan (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Asia
“When God wanted to create the horse, he said to the South Wind, “I want to make a creature of you. Condense.” And the Wind condensed.”
Asia (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Persia
“O’ day, arise!
Shine your light, the atoms are dancing.
Thanks to Him the universe is dancing,
overcome with ecstasy, free from body and mind
I’ll whisper in your ear where their dance is leading them.
All the atoms in the air and in the desert are dancing,
puzzled and drunken to the ray of light,
they seem insane.
All these atoms are not so different than we are,
happy or miserable,
perplexed and bewildered
We are all beings in the ray of light from The Beloved.
Nothing can be said.”
Persia (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on Paper, 2019.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Listen to this version of Poem of the Atoms with music by Armand Amar.
Freedom
“To have freedom, be willing to give freedom.”
Pacific Ocean (Atlas Series).
Acrylic on Paper, 2019.
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Aesopus
“To be strong does not mean to sprout muscles and flex. It means meeting one’s own numinosity without fleeing, actively living with the wild nature in one’s own way. It means to be able to learn, to be able to stand what we know. It means to stand and live.”
Aesopus.
13.97” by 10.23” (35.5 cm by 26 cm).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
Wolf
I always believed I was a deer, but I’ve discovered I am a wolf.
Pope Innocent X.
13.97” by 10.23” (35.5 cm by 26 cm).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
The Discoverer
“I am the Discoverer of Nature.
I am the Argonaut of true sensations.
I bring to the Universe a new Universe because I bring the Universe itself.”
Atlas Series.
I. Atlantic Ocean.
Acrylic on Paper
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
II. Indonesia.
Acrylic on Paper
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Iconography
“If geography is prose, maps are iconography.”
Atlas Series.
I. Australia.
Acrylic on Paper
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
II. Indian Ocean.
Acrylic on Paper
10.62" by 12.79" (27 cm by 32.5 cm).
Atlas Series
Maps have special meaning to me. They show me where I've been, and where I've yet to explore. They are the visual layout of a place, its veins and arteries. They are also a symbol, because one cannot really trace on paper what is made of life, movement, chaos and feeling. It is the same with art
The paintings I'll be sharing this week are part of a series I began several years ago, where I use the pages of an Atlas from the 1950’s as a canvas.
Queen Elizabeth on Horseback
I keep getting the Receptivity card from Osho’s Zen tarot:
The Queen of Water brings a time of unboundedness and gratitude for whatever life brings, without any expectations or demands. Neither duty or thought of merit or reward are important. Sensitivity, intuition and compassion are the qualities that shine forth now, dissolving all the obstacles that keep us separate from each other and from the whole.
Queen Elizabeth of France on Horseback.
Acrylic on paper.
12” by 9.25” (30 cm by 23.5 cm).
Atlas Series
There are maps that lead us back to who we are. We collect the parts of a puzzle that was separated by time and distance and we recognize who we have always been.
The places we go to define us for a while, but the real map is the one within, the one that connects every aspect of ourselves.
Rome.
Acrylic on paper.
10.62” by 12.79” (27 by 32.5 cm).
2018.
Mariana de Austria
How exciting it is to walk at night. I feel darkness envelop me, I am unseen. Like a hawk. A hunter. I experience the quality of darkness. It is a different dimension, a bizarre element.
Portrait of Mariana de Austria.
13.97” by 10.23” (35.5 cm by 26 cm).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
Infanta Margarita Teresa
Today I realized that a belief I held as a six year old still guides my path: when people don’t love me the way I want them to, I leave. I thought it was a way to punish them, but I am the one who gets burnt.
Dear Life, let me be aware of the obstacles within me that block the flow of love and abundance. Help me relate to others more freely.
Infanta Margarita Teresa.
Acrylic on paper, 2019.
12” by 9.25” (30.5 cm by 23.5 cm).
Temple
Dear Life, show me how to navigate the changing waters so that I flow with ease. Help me find stillness and comfort in my heart. Let me see beauty in all conditions.
I am you. You are me. We are one.
Temple.
Acrylic on panel.
42.24” by 42.24” (120 cm by 120 cm)
Portrait of Maria Anna
The woman behind the mask.
Portrait of Maria Anna.
12” by 9.25” (30.5 cm by 23.5 cm).
Acrylic on paper, 2019.