Friday, August 8, 2008

Art and spirituality



I get inspired in many different ways, and many times art connects me to the realm of Spirit and Wholeness. Very often the creative experience is very intuitive. I was playing around with an image I shot of a very colorful mobile in the shape of a spiral. I like the shape of a spiral, it is a great symbol of eternity, maybe even the energy of the soul. I took the spiral and transformed it into a pattern of ovals, and even though it doesn't look like the original spiral it still has the essence of spiraling. It has become a mandala for me.

man·da·la [muhn-dl-uh] -noun
1. Oriental Art. a schematized representation of the cosmos, chiefly characterized by a concentric configuration of geometric shapes, each of which contains an image of a deity or an attribute of a deity.
2. (in Jungian psychology) a symbol representing the effort to reunify the self.
[Origin: 1855-60; Sanskrit]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Symbols can be universal or personal. A personal symbol can mean something special to just one person. Maybe this image will become a personal transformative symbol for you.

4 comments:

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

What a beautiful image. It "feels" like reflection in moving water. The mandala imagery is fitting.

Photography By Terri Harper said...

Patricia,
It does look like a reflection in water, kind of like when you through a stone in and it ripples and radiates out. Thanks for the comment. I left a few newer comments on your blog, one is under famous potter challenges #2.

Anonymous said...

Really like this, would be great to hang in my meditation room. I'll send you an email to request more info on sizes and prices.
Lucy

Anonymous said...

Love, love, love the mandala. I love your blog, you always have such awesome photos. You are very talented.
T.J.