Spiralling around True North

 

Today I shared this image on my facebook page. I didn't say anything about the post as it never occurred to me that anyone might think that I might have made it.

But they did.  At least I think a couple of people did. Wow. First of all, I'm amazed to be credited with such an image. Secondly, I'm fascinated by what it was about this image that created some quite strong reactions. What energies does such an image carry that they communicate in some way to people from another culture, and possibly another time?

I don't have any information about who made this image, or when. It's from a book published in 2007 to celebrate the Wellcome Trust opening a new public venue in London. The book was edited by J. Peto and was called The Heart (Newhaven and London). It's a Kalighat painting, which means it could be ancient or made yesterday:

'Kalighat painting is a school of painting in Kalighat, a small district in Calcutta. It is named after the Hindu goddess Kali. Kalighat painting originated from the folk art tradition of rural Bengal. The Patuas or picture makers had migrated from Bengal in the early nineteenth century. There are a range of subjects from religious imagery of Hindu gods, goddesses and stories to natural history, social types and proverbs. The range of materials used in drawing are pencil, watercolour, indian ink and silver paint.'

It's a kind of weird synchronicity because I've been fascinated by the Patuas, who traditionally painted long narrative scrolls called Pats (20 metres or more, which as I understand it were unrolled as they told a story...) for over thirty years (anyone reading this who knows more about this/sees errors in my ideas, please get in touch!). In fact, my current long landscape paintings, I realised recently, are unconsciously echoing not only the horizontal walls of Indian mural paintings in places like Ajanta and Mattacheri Palace (which are all narrative), but the idea of the storytelling Pats specifically. Things seem to just circle back and spiral in mysterious ways.

For the record, I want to say that you are very unlikely to ever see me making an image of a Hindu god. I use artefacts, I steal colours, I unconsciously play with energies that I don't understand. But I don't make images of Hindu gods. If you want to know why, apply to read my 1994 Dissertation entitled: Symbol and Reality: The Embodiment of the Divine in the Sacred Images of India (School of Oriental Studies, University of London). 😁