Room 1-2-3 (4-5) Digital design concept
Drawing on influences European, American, and East Indian, and occupying the lower half of the Cornfield ground directly opposite Chorale, is Room 1-2-3 (4-5) .
A mural of five paintings in oil, Room is themed on the yogic philosophy of the Five Functions of God (Self, or Nature). In addition to the more obvious three functions of nature - creation, sustenance, and dissolution - there is also the function of grace, wherein you perceive God, Self, or Spirit both within and without . . . and the function of concealment, in which such knowledge and direct experience of God is hidden or forgotten. All that happens in the Universe - within the world, within one's culture, within the body and mind, within your relationships to living beings and the environment - exhibits these five functions. In this understanding God does it all in the ultimate game of hide and seek, from the motions of the Universe to our most intimate thoughts and feelings.
The same ideas are echoed in the companion piece, Burning Sheaves.
Room 1-2-3 (4-5) 48"H x 23'0"W Oil on linen and wooden panel
Jain Painter (creation), Stroll to the Lake (grace), Olympia (sustenance), Death of the Corn Goddess? (concealment), Shiva (destruction)
Above: Burning Sheaves 48"H x 66"W Oil on canvas
Apotheosis of the Corn Goddess Burning Sheaves
Cornfield Storyboard Plate 3 of 33
(Center image: Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, India, as a young yogi Photo credit: unknown)
"Find that flame, that love, that wonderful Man, who can burn beneath the water.
All artwork and design © James Nichols 1976-2022