In May of 2002, a powerful synchronistic life experience let me know I was
on the right track with circle mandalas. I added the story here to share it through a short
assignment I wrote back in October 2002 for my BA degree. My interests
have not changed, just further refinement of the impulse that was given to me many years ago. Now the new angle emerges of how to make mandala/circle artwork
more integrated into the digital world. The words, images and sources below.
The Evolutionary History of My Work With Circles
Sharing my artwork with people is a way of disclosing and
communicating the symbols I value. There are many layers and subtle
meanings in the particular objects I choose and the shapes thus created
with them. This last spring, I began passionately working with
circles. The circle is an archetypal shape that has been interpreted
in many cultures to signify wholeness. I believe my desire to create
objects with circular unity is a reflection of my need for a sense of
harmony and perfection in the outside world. My own search for
wholeness is being manifested through my art.
My attraction to the circle has led me to notice other cultures
around the world that use circles in artwork and as a healing symbol.
I am particularly interested in East Indian philosophy and the ways art
and consciousness blend themselves in their visual expressions.
Tantric art, in the form of yantras, are created as an act of prayer
and meditation.
"The Yantra is an archetypal unit, and in the
making of every new yantra the archetypal activity and the divine
revelations repeat themselves. Each yantra's consecrated place acts as
a dwelling for the gods, a space where movement from the level of
profane existence to the level of profound realities is made possible.
Symbol and meaning blend so closely that they are one reality,
indistinguishable from one another." (page 30
Yantra)
I feel as though my own work with circles taps into a deep well of
ancient knowledge that I am just beginning to drink from. The serenity
I feel when I gaze on an array of symmetrical circles is amazing and
deeply soothing. Words do not quite capture the visual vibrations that
settle into my psyche. The following description presents a partial
glimpse of the immeasurable symbolism the circle holds.
"…the circle represents the cyclical forces, the contraction
and expansion of astronomical revolutions, and the round of cosmic
rhythms. Within this image lies the notion that time has no beginning
and no end. The farthest region of space and the innermost nucleus of
an atomic structure are bound by the constant flow of life and the
rhythmic energy of creation. The circle may also be considered, in its
concentrated form, as a bindu, or in galactic proportions as the
expanding universe; its numerical counterpart is the zero." (page 32 Yantra)
Numerous synchronistic events occurred this last spring that were
significant in directing my creative path. I felt the universe was
continually affirming and presenting me towards people and books that
were aligned with my interests. The first occurrence was when I was
working with a mentor, Diane Gilbert, in a Cloth and Cut Paper course,
and we were discussing my process of creating a piece I call
Suckulent. She discovered that the century plant stalks I sewed in a
circle numbered sixteen, a number I arbitrarily picked because the
design looked best with that amount of stalks. Sixteen happens to be
the number of perfect unity in ancient Indian cosmology.
(Suckulent series)
The second event evolved over the month of May 2002. I traveled to
visit my sister in New York and I drew a chalk mandala of circles and
geometric designs on the cement sidewalk in front of her house. My
parents snapped a picture of it for me and I hung it on my
refrigerator. Again my mentor, Diane, visited and later she brought me
a book Painted Prayers: Women's Art in Village India by Stephen P.
Huyler. The photograph reminded her of an image from this book. The
images demonstrate our amazing similarity of design.
(photo in NY driveway taken by my parents May 2002)
(page 192 Painted Prayers)
Another time I was in a local bakery and began a conversation about
circle mandalas with a man who had just read a book by Joseph Campbell
that explored the ideas about when and why mandalas began appearing in
the history of art. I was curious, so he lent me the book The Flight
of the Wild Gander: Explorations in the Mythological Dimensions of
Fairy Tales, Legends, and Symbols by Joseph Campbell. He suggests that
the appearance of the mandala began after the passing of the hunting
age and with the development of agriculture.
"The problem of existing as a mere fraction instead of as a
whole imposes certain stresses on the psyche which no primitive hunter
ever had to endure, and consequently the symbols giving structure and
support to the development of the primitive hunter's psychological
balance were radically different from those that arose in the settled
villages." (page 144 The Flight of the Wild Gander)
Campbell suggests people began create mandalas when they could no
longer take care of all of their own needs and were required to be
interdependent with others. We no longer can fully complete the cycle
of our own lives without outside help. The average person cannot grow
all their own food, spin their own wool, sew their own clothing, create
tools and utensils, refine gas, fix vehicles, and the list goes on and
on. So as a member of modern society, I crave the experience of
completion. My circle mandalas are created out of the tension Campbell
speaks of.
"And we may ask, also, then, whether today, when that
economy is giving way to one based on industry, and the cosmological
image commensurate with an agricultural horizon has been shattered for
us forever- whether today, in this next age of great transformation,
the images generated in that earlier period of crisis still are of use,
and if so for whom, and why?" (page 146 The Flight of the
Wild Gander)
Some of my most recent images resonate intensely with the images of
'that earlier period of crisis' and so I believe my own experiences
have answered this question adequately. Yes, these images are
valuable. They have deep meaning for those people who are willing to
slow down enough to be stimulated by visual splendor. Not everyone can
be lifted to new realms by visual awe; some need the lift to be
auditory, others by massage or delicate flavors.
Another layer to the symbolism of my art is the fact that my images
are created with recycled materials, ordinary resources, and objects
from nature. This choice of materials challenges the aesthetics of our
modern culture by creating beauty out of the ordinary garbage and waste
most people step on, over look and toss out. I use hard rusty metal
bullets mixed with soft feathery light cloth, sharp cactus spines
intermingled with layers of thin reflective dry cleaner bags, and
golden baby bottle nipples placed with tea bag wrappers. Though the
use of textured materials, I explore the dualities of chaos/
simplicity, lightness/ darkness, and masculinity/ femininity.
The path of an artist becomes a full circle when one shares the
privately created work with the public. I received the gift of sharing
artwork with my community at my senior show, Impeccable Assumptions,
June 16- 18, 2002. This dialogue with my audience is the last step I
witness in the process that really never ends.
"Underwear- nipples- cow patties- agave- tea bags- paper-
seat belts- paint- box springs- bullets- beads and hair- these are the
things that inspire Carrie Mae- but she is inspired by more than this-
a woman whose body finds its place in her art- the fluid and clay of
her spirit draw in from the periphery of the world around her and
extend into these pieces of beauty we see- they are all her, and we
find ourselves in them." Angela Stott June 18, 2002
"This is exquisite!!! It is profoundly beautiful. Thank you
for your courage, wit and vision." Ellen Greenblum June 18,
2002
"These
'art-ifacts' of our commercial culture and nature are wedded in
aesthetic bliss by your artistic eye. These are unique and I predict
will elevate 'used' objects to a new plain/ practice of respect. These
will make you rightfully famous. Thanks for your resourceressness- a
good model for us all in pursuit of a more sustainable world." Terril Shorb June 16, 2002
For me creating art is about connecting to the infinite through
finite materials. My trust grows as I continue with this work, as I
capture and access the magic the ancient Indian philosophers recognize
as available to someone willing to focus and spend time in reflective,
creative time. As I create my art, I create myself.
Carrie Mae Kreyche
October 21, 2002
Bibliography
Campbell, Joseph. The Flight of the Wild Gander. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1951.
Huyler,
Stephen P. Painted Prayers: Women's Art in Village
India. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc,
1994.
Khanna, Madhu. Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity. London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd, 1979.
