At last have figured out how to include pics. So, have downloaded a lot from the six weeks already away - Munich, Delhi, Kolkata, Santiniketan, Dhaka, and now Delhi again. Will be putting some on this blog and Facebook. Remember though that I own the copyright so ask permission if you want to pass anything along. Be patient though as it will be a long process to put together.
Have finished a lot of new artwork at Sanskriti, ten new "Face Paintings," three Portrait Boxes, etc. Fulbright House wants a Face Painting. I'll give a monoprint to Sanscriti, and most happily I've already sold one monoprint to a woman from LA visiting Sanskriti with an art tour the other day. What a great start!
Yesterday a group of us were treated to a fragment from otherwise a very lengthy shadow puppet play, performed for us by renowned artisans and performers of India. OP Jain, our Sanskriti benefactor has purchased a goodly amount of shadow puppets, huge ones and over 100 years old. They are truly stunning, colorful and with the many small circles cut out throughout, the light shines through. Am reminded of a Leonard Cohen sentence from one of his songs, "There's a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in". The performance was of the culminating episode when Hanuman routs the evil beasts and beings that were imprisoning Sita. The shouts, stamping, and the vigorous movement of the puppets was exhilerating and not only for us visitors, but clearly when it was over, the performers/artisans were excited too. Then, remembering my own mask tale, the new one about Hena, the 14 year old girl who was raped and beaten to death (an illegal Fatwa) in Dhaka, I pondered on how the use of force, vehement force and cruelty, against always "the evil one" hah, hah shown in these persistent tales prepares the way for the continuation in real life. It must tap into and provide some release for the heavily suppressed hostility that so easily surfaces given the right set of circumstances. Witness now the Middle East.
Alas. I remember an army Colonel confiding that the army needs a war at least once every twenty years so that there can be combat hardened military to pass on the methods and training. Hmmm. Has the quota been filled yet?
Haven't taken the showow puppet photos off my camera yet, so it seems I'll be eternally behind and trying to catch up.After my show opens on Friday, I'll have ten more days at Sanskriti to explore the museums, etc. in Delhi and catch up with getting the photos in place.
For now, hugs from Delhi as my rooms are being cleaned, my laundry hangs on the courtyard line and where peacocks screech in the night sounding like cats in heat. They are pruning the trees on the grounds here. One of the workers gets into the tree, standing on limbs with his bare feet and the others stand below helping to guide the process. Always there is work going on about the grounds, sweeping up, mopping the floors, and on. And on...
Have finished a lot of new artwork at Sanskriti, ten new "Face Paintings," three Portrait Boxes, etc. Fulbright House wants a Face Painting. I'll give a monoprint to Sanscriti, and most happily I've already sold one monoprint to a woman from LA visiting Sanskriti with an art tour the other day. What a great start!
Yesterday a group of us were treated to a fragment from otherwise a very lengthy shadow puppet play, performed for us by renowned artisans and performers of India. OP Jain, our Sanskriti benefactor has purchased a goodly amount of shadow puppets, huge ones and over 100 years old. They are truly stunning, colorful and with the many small circles cut out throughout, the light shines through. Am reminded of a Leonard Cohen sentence from one of his songs, "There's a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in". The performance was of the culminating episode when Hanuman routs the evil beasts and beings that were imprisoning Sita. The shouts, stamping, and the vigorous movement of the puppets was exhilerating and not only for us visitors, but clearly when it was over, the performers/artisans were excited too. Then, remembering my own mask tale, the new one about Hena, the 14 year old girl who was raped and beaten to death (an illegal Fatwa) in Dhaka, I pondered on how the use of force, vehement force and cruelty, against always "the evil one" hah, hah shown in these persistent tales prepares the way for the continuation in real life. It must tap into and provide some release for the heavily suppressed hostility that so easily surfaces given the right set of circumstances. Witness now the Middle East.
Alas. I remember an army Colonel confiding that the army needs a war at least once every twenty years so that there can be combat hardened military to pass on the methods and training. Hmmm. Has the quota been filled yet?
For now, hugs from Delhi as my rooms are being cleaned, my laundry hangs on the courtyard line and where peacocks screech in the night sounding like cats in heat. They are pruning the trees on the grounds here. One of the workers gets into the tree, standing on limbs with his bare feet and the others stand below helping to guide the process. Always there is work going on about the grounds, sweeping up, mopping the floors, and on. And on...
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