A whale of a time!

Ever since I can remember I love making things out of paper, my good friend Gaurika will remember, once during our J.J days, we had gone to Sanjay Gandhi National Park to do landcape painting (ah! those were the days, were'nt they? hehe....)and the sun was really beating down on us, as a solution I took a sheet of newspaper and folded it this way and that, made a tear and made a quick hat for her....I hope memory has served me right.... :)

Which brings us now to origami, I was browsing the net once more to learn something new and I made this whale. I love creatures of the sea, must be something to do with my Piscean moon-sign :)

(I pasted the whale on white paper and painted few atmospheric strokes around it, you can learn to make it here)

I found some simple origami designs for children, in fact I wish to share this with Gaurika's little girl, maybe my neighbour's kids (if they haven't learnt it in school yet) and also some of my close friends (just to feel like children again :))

I was so happy to find some origami paper at the local student supplies store while out on my grocery errand yesterday. These are lovely solid colours, but I hope to find subtler shades too :)

If I question myself why I like doing these simple crafts, I don't know... maybe my art-practise is becoming quite research based, and maybe I read so much that I like to balance it with something that takes you to being a child...or perhaps I like the unpretentiousness of it....some years back I would even buy children's books and I have always enjoyed folk tales, myths, legends, creation stories, etc from around the world. I would collect these books for their beautiful illustrations and stories that got you dreaming :)

I will share more creatures of the paper soon as and when I fold them :)

Have a lovely weekend!
Keep cool :)

love + light!!

Origami Buddha by Takashi Hojyo

This perfectly folded stunning Buddha is by Takashi Hojyo, a contemporary Origami master living in Tokyo. Hojyo creates figures especially rich in texture and three-dimensionality, utilizing pleats and multiple layers of paper to build depth in his subjects with attention to pose and gesture.

Origami never fails to amaze me. I would love to make this Buddha, and have it amongst my 'soul-objects' of inspiration. Personally, I prefer designs that are more minimal and leaning towards the abstract. I hope I find instructions to make this beautiful design and try my hand at it :)

While I was looking on the web for an Origami Buddha, I also found the site of India's own Origami club! Origami Mitra . My friend Sarita had told me about them while I was working on the installation I did at the Kalaghoda arts festival, which used origami lotuses. I found them through my flickr page, they have a group where you can pool in origami pictures.

Sources: Robert Lang's Origami website

Hope you enjoyed the image.
Love + light!!

Lotuses of the Floating World

An installation of hundreds of paper lotuses made in origami style.

Kalaghoda Arts Festival 2010,
Horniman Circle Garden
6-14 February
10.00 a.m – 10.00 p.m

At last this Saturday I will be able to see a wish fulfilled, hundreds of lotuses planted in the earth. This will be my first time showing in Bombay and I'm happy to begin this way, in the open, in a garden (I'm a complete nature person). So if you are anywhere near Horniman Circle Garden between the 6th and the 14th do drop by anytime between 10.00 a.m and 10.00 p.m. I plan to teach how to fold these beautiful lotuses. There will be plenty of other events too.

About the installation.
The lotus is a leitmotif in my work, for what it symbolizes and its metaphysical associations. My art-practise runs parallel to my own journey on the path of dharma. It is an earnest effort where I not only read but have a practise to support it (Vipassana mainly). This installation is a three dimensional extension of being on the path.

About the choice of medium.

I am attracted to the organic and fragile nature of paper and yet it can be quite durable. I like the idea of sculpting something out of it, origami is one way to explore this.

About the core message.

When I first learned to make to these lotuses I was filled with an urge to see them in an undulating mass, over a lawn, maybe. Through this installation I want to say to people, look, you don't have to go to some far away village to witness a pond or a lake filled with beautiful lotuses, to witness a lotus all you need to do is take a square piece of paper, sit quietly and fold. Opening its petals to full bloom is like awakening to the Buddha nature inside.

I compare this act to creating an island of refuge within ourselves where you can return to from time to time. We all live in a densely populated city and there are no lotus ponds near us, but still there is hope, human imagination can transform a mere piece of paper into a lotus flower, an absolute symbol of enlightenment. That is my message, no matter how bad the situation, one can find ways to find a balance, to create beauty and true peace in our lives.

Gratitude
Lastly, one post is not enough to thank my family and friends for their love and support. Yogeeta, Sanhdya, Harsheet you have really been there for me. Yogs thanks for all the help and designing my card. Sandhya for listening to me with all my updates on the progress I was making, Harsheet, I know you don't like thank you's but here it is, I appreciate it all. Behzad for being there while I installed and dismantled and largely for just being you, Nyela thanks dear for the lovely mornings at the garden, Himanshu for suggesting the venue, and my dear friend Sarita too. This project has been like waiting for a empty stretch of land to collect rain and then burst in lotus bloom.

Love + light!

P.S: there is a place where white lotuses bloom in the rains :) and where there are humans there is plastic! and yet the lotus grows above it all :))