Review by Kristen Scholfield-Sweet
Even though art has been a continuing human dialog across thousands of years, and has been shaped and edited by cultural, political and commercial interests, art is meditation. Good art never stops revealing itself: in the process of its making, in the depth of its narrative, in the revelation of its mystery.
These qualities of process, depth and revelation are key to profound meditation. Buddha is a
Principle, currently exhibited by Tamara Dawn at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, shows us how to
overcome what we think we know about art, and celebrate what we don’t yet know.
The symbol language of art is always evolving from a hierarchy of interests and priorities. And yet the constants of visual language - colour, form, scale, pattern, texture, contrast, composition -- lead us to something beyond formal design and cultural boundaries.
As you gaze at these images, notice how the relationship between the figure and its setting create
content: the figures only face out to you the viewer, or in to relationship, colours are predominately
intense, the level of detail asks you to come in close to the work, the more you see, the more there is to see. If, as Tamara Dawn says in her statement: “what you see in these images of the Buddha will be nothing other than your own mind,” then your mind is seeing relationship, intensity and intimacy. Access to profound meditation.
All art is political because it is always subject to interpretation. Omissions as well as inclusions are
choices. The world that the work inhabits also describes the world that the artist inhabits. Notice that these compositions have no dead spaces or inactive areas. Each piece promotes a whole
experience. And untypically of most art shows, this lack of unengaged space extends to the gallery
itself. The blank wall to the left as you enter the exhibition becomes a passage of quiet neutrality. The statements that are allowed to gracefully slump along the rail, rather than be rigidly hung, create a flow of soft shapes. The requirement to choose the image in its intense intimacy, or the descriptive text—but not choose both at the same time—shapes your gallery experience.
Go for a second look, and you will discover that Tamara Dawn has used the language of symbol, of vision, and of space to help you “clean away the dust that coats the mirror of pure perception.” For a time, you are free from limiting concepts. You are able to experience the intention of meditation as art.
Join Tamara Dawn for a dialog about her work on Friday Aug 9 at 7 pm. The exhibition continues at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery Saturday and Sunday from 2-6.
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