The Seasons of Energy

"Finding order is to know the constant.
Knowing the constant is enlightenment "
Lao Tse

This new series on the seasons of energy has gone through many stages. Initially, I was inspired by the archetypal plant in its growth throughout the seasons.
But after a few weeks of work, I found that something was missing. I felt blocked. So I asked the question:  What is that element which unites the seasons and therefore the plant kingdom ?  Part of my answer came by way of Chinese medicine and its definition of the seasons as energies .
Chinese medicine has interested me for some time now. This work allowed me to reconnect with Chinese philosophy which had nourished me so much during my work on the Y-King.
In Chinese medicine, a phase does not mark the end of a cycle, but the beginning of a new one, like the seed that falls from the plant, burrowing into the earth and giving birth to a new plant. For me the circle was "closed" and I could find a new start for this series.
The Chinese fifth season is not depicted as a fifth season in my quadryptique work. As a transitional season I represented it by the color yellow, weaving throughout all the others. In my own experience yellow truely has the quality to unite all the other color energies.


Martina Westover, November 2010

 

Début
Fin
Techniques

My work is rarely done with tube paint. I prefer to mix pigments with a binder. I often use Kremer pigments.

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