Isamu Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, NY.
this is the second time a museum of works has moved me to tears. the first was Dali’s in Figueres, Spain. both artists believed that ART was to be experienced, not viewed as static works like most museums create, but moving, ethereal, magical and evocative of environment. here are a few views from his space…
..a view from my hotel window. the full moon and it’s reflections, the many worlds within a world view!
i perceive only a fraction of reality, my mind runs untrained through most of my day(s) and yet in the city of New York i came upon a moment of clarity. seems weird that in a city of chaos i’d have a sense of clarity!? it was Christmas evening in a restaurant dining on sushi that i overheard two people talking unusually loudly considering they were a foot from one another and i was sitting no further from them…both had an attitude of separateness, pride and unhappiness, which at first startled me on Christmas and then i realized how i was judging them and then again i realized how i could identify with their attitudes, perhaps not in that moment but somewhere in time i too have carried these attitudes!
just a few weeks ago in my Dharma class i had a moment or two of conviction in my attitude and was called on it in class! i did not realize it then but another week went by and someone else called me on my attitude and finally…well, the light went on and my mind kicked into gear…duh! OK, the veil of ignorance again is lifted even if momentarily it was long enough to get an “aha” and settle back into this humble body and mind. cringing at the realization that i am STILL a beginner in samsara and how illusive and impermanent clarity within the mind can be!
i wish that after three years of Dharma teachings it would translate into my junior year and i could feel good about myself that i would graduate to a “higher” level!!!! instead i get to see the nature of samsara…again. that self is not separate, pride only supports and validates self and unhappiness is suffering…my mind feels discouraged and yet with knowledge of Dharma i cannot turn away from truth, the truth of human nature is suffering. Hazel, you can judge others for better, worse, laziness, overachievers, liars…in the end it always comes back. just like the wheel of Dharma, in a circle, round and round we go, creating causes for karma in all directions.
the holidays, specifically Christmas, is a time for giving. on Christmas i was given an opportunity to “see” how insidious my mind can be. it was like “A Christmas Carol” where he travels to past, present and future….to witness missed opportunities and create a change for the better.
the new year cometh…peace and joy…joy and peace…may you create the change you want to see!
.. into KUZU…a hanging steel basket…flowers to take, a reminder of impermanence, an offering…
“OFFERINGS” my latest exhibit and showing of new works…this is a view within a view inside the warehouse space where all the sculptures too big to reside within the gallery space are placed. the attendance was the lowest of any show and yet in my mind it was my strongest show of works!! cracks me up…although my fair city does not hold or value a plethora of conceptual and contemporary works it boggles my mind how any “artist” does not succumb to doubt and depression over time. i struggle with marketing, i know that is my weakest link and my space is not in the “desired” area of the city where people like to go or are too lazy to make a go out and investigate….and yet i plug along, because i don’t know how else to communicate or express myself to benefit myself and others. intellectually i know i can do other things directly to impact my world but my passions of communicating are in creating through a medium that does not seem to interest people…yes, this is from my own mind and yes it’s my karma, so i keep applying effort and i keep creating the causes for a future.
doubt and funk have entered my mind as of late and i know what i need to do however right now it feels necessary to just feel this…it is not an attachment i will hold onto for long, the grasping will release over time only to begin again when another condition arises…my world, my mental attitude, my works are impermanent…and yet my humaness (is that a word?) tires me…relax Hazel, i say to myself , hit the refresh button and begin again.
“All-knowing Losang Drapa, King of the Dharma
Please come to this place together with your Sons.”
it is the day after our political elections in the states and countrywide it has been a show of unparallel views and outcomes…as a resident in the state of AZ the people have chosen the same woman whom wants to change our constitution towards illegal immigration and that of their children born in the country? her victory comment was that “we know what’s best for Arizona”…? REALLY?! our state is second in poverty level for the country and 46th in education, does this reflect her statement?
oh Buddha and protector of Dharma please, please come to this place together with your retinue! help me to stop grasping at self and bring peace to ALL minds whom feel scared, lost, bewildered and betrayed against the ignorance, hate and anger that is so prevalent in our state, country and worlds.
view from above my top bunk, straight from my camera.
shadow of reality from a strap that held the tent anchored, only the color has been changed.
over 3,000 people attended this Buddhist retreat and teachings in Brazil. of all the possible photographs i could have taken i only took a handful…the camera sat in my pak in wait. the only time i chose to pick it up was at night within my tent amongst 7 other women from around the world. 3 from hong kong, one from brazil another from australia..
these retreats for me are like an infusion of vitality, compassion and truths to view my world with a new “eye”. it felt wrong to photograph people here opening their hearts and minds, witnessing new awakenings ought to be private and held in mind not photographed or misinterpreted by others. so the mundane world right before bed became my object of model to capture.
an image of Buddha Shakyamuni, a mural my oldest daughter, mariko, finished in my backyard! she first drew it by grid from the traditional art and then added her own style of colors to the mix! i love how it came out! i leave tomorrow morning for a weeks retreat in Brazil…..may everyone be happy.
http://nkt-kmc-brazil.org/en/temple/
“when we understand the true nature of things we will see that our world is like a dream, in that everything exists as a mere appearance to mind.”
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
…presence of mind.
my mind has finally come to terms that my 365 project has failed…i cannot retrieve days passed…moments lost…alas, life held too many distractions or the project itself didn’t captivate me enough to keep pace with a daily image in photographing and/or documenting it. there is a lot of time associated with taking one image per day. the photography end is easy for me it’s posting on the internet that cripples my flow and turns it into “obligation” . today i post freely w/o much ado an image from last night at a favorite sushi bar…her aura is created by a passing white menu! funny, without the truth exposed there could be many interpretations!
