impermanence – the awakened eye

wabi-sabi: the beauty of imperfection

Posted on April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 by miriam louisa simons

Tai Carmen at Parallax Journal has written a post that’s inspired me to do something new (for me) – click the reblog button.

My studies in Japan introduced me to the concept of Wabi-Sabi and my heart took to it like a moth to a flame. It was in Kyoto that I found Leonard Koren’s book Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers– a magnificent companion for me during my days in Kyoto as well as the more remote regional areas I visited.

“To find beauty in imperfection is not intuitive to the Western mind.” We race after what should be, and romanticise what was, ensuring that we rarely see what is. Wabi-Sabi turns our perception towards what is, and more. It treasures it. There is great fulfilment in this.

Thank you Tai.

PARALLAX:

By Tai Carmen

“Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent & incomplete.” ~ Leonard Koren

“Wabi is the beauty that springs from the creative energy that flows in all things, animate or not. It’s a beauty that, like nature itself, can appear with dark and light, sad and joyful, rough and gentle.” ~ Makoto Ueda

“Beauty is radiant and tactile, not airbrushed.” ~ Joe Hefferon

The term Wabi-Sabi represents a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that embraces authenticity over perfection.

Characterized by asymmetry, irregularity, simplicity, economy, austerity—modesty & intimacy—wabi-sabi values natural objects & processes as emblems of our transitory existence. Rust, woodgrain, freckles—the texture of life.

Developed in the 15th century in reaction to the lavish, ostentatious ornamentation of the aristocracy, wabi-sabi centers around three principals: “nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished.”

“The initial inspiration for wabi-sabi’s metaphysical, spiritual, and moral principles come from ideas about simplicity…

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ineffable: joy

Posted on January 13, 2012May 23, 2015 by miriam louisa simons

Transcending cynicism and irony – new paintings by Claude Smith

Claude Smith: Joy

Claude Smith, a native New Yorker, has been committed to the process of painting for nearly fifty years. Art, and painting in particular, has been a means of examining life, and his place in the world. On what Smith calls his “path of obscurity”, he has chosen to explore the boundaries of life and death, form and emptiness, and impermanence. His primary influences are Taoist philosophy, the natural world, Zen calligraphy, jazz, and the music of 20th century composers like Toru Takemitsu, and John Cage.

Smith’s current body of work emerged out of his dialogues with musician and writer, Richard Osborn. Smith was questioning the function of painting in today’s world, positing that photography, film, video, and audio were far more potent mediums for story telling, and for making social and political statements … leaving painting to do, what? That discussion led Smith to examine the concept of “Joy”, which seems to be well represented in the realms of music, dance, theater, literature, and film, but conspicuously absent in the history of painting. “Why is that? Is it too difficult to access and find a means to express “Joy”? Is it socially unacceptable? Not hip enough? Not cynical or hard-edge enough for today’s culture?, Smith wondered.

Never bound by art-world trends, Smith set sail for what was personally unfamiliar territory, in search of unspeakable joy and a way to authentically communicate his experiences. The resulting series of paintings are visceral, energetic and joyful expressions of color, rhythm and form.

Gallery MUJO, 548 South Spring St, Los Angeles, Ca.
February 4-29, 2012. Reception: February 18, 5-8 p.m.
http://tinyurl.com/ineffableshow

Claude Smith’s website

miró, joy and claude smith

claude smith at the artisans’ gallery

Cézanne and Nature’s Eternity

Posted on July 8, 2009May 24, 2015 by miriam louisa simons

Rupert Spira‘s excellent essay on Paul Cézanne, Nature’s Eternity is one of a collection of essays in his book The Transparency of Things – highly recommended reading for anyone interested in nondual awareness and its deepest implications.

Paul Cezanne: Mont St. Victoire

Paul Cézanne said, “Everything vanishes, falls apart, doesn’t it? Nature is always the same but nothing in her that appears to us lasts. Our art must render the thrill of her permanence, along with her elements, the appearance of all her changes. It must give us a taste of her Eternity.”

That statement must be one of the clearest and most profound expressions of the nature and purpose of art in our era.

What did Cézanne mean, standing in front of a mountain, Mont St. Victoire, one of the most solid and enduring structures in nature, when he said, “Everything vanishes, falls apart…?”

Cézanne was referring to the act of seeing.

We do not perceive a world outside Consciousness. The world is our perception of the world. There is no evidence that there is a world outside the perception of it, outside Consciousness.

The seen cannot be separated from seeing and seeing cannot be separated from Consciousness.
[…continued]

– Rupert Spira, Nature’s Eternity

The Transparency of Things.

Read the whole essay HERE

rupertspira.com

nature’s eternity

rupert spira at the artisans’ gallery