TIME TRAVELLERS

TASHI NORBUcontemporary art

TIME TRAVELLERSIt is a true feeling finding the true wisdom or`Altruistic` intention to become enlightened, compassion and love.The monks flying symbolise the sensation of being able to change their body at will levitating through space and performing miracles. They could freely explore, without obstacles, the entire universe from one end to the other, visiting all the Buddha realms and listening to the teachings. They are able to fly through space. They are now working for the good of sentient beings. They will be reborn again and again and help and teach Sentient beings (all living creatures) until every sentien being is enlightened.

Time Travellers - 2 122 x 180 cm, Mixed medium, raw pigments, scriptures and acrylic on pressure-treated plywood

Artist: Tashi NorbuArt critic: Roberta Reali

Editor: Anna Maria GriseriDesign: Astrid Klaasse Bos

Time Travellers - 1 and 3 122 x 180 cm and 104 x 170 cm, Mixed media, raw pigments, tibetan scriptures, acrylic and oil on pressure-treated plywood

The point at infiniteThe painted frame of a dreamy vision is projected from the deep eye of the Eter-nal Wisdom. Shining as a jewel nestled in the profound indigo of consciouness, the spiritual realm of Shambhala is symbolized by the Kalachakra Mandala. Along the coils of a spyral perspective, from left to right, Tibetan monks, nuns, Dakini, women and angels are flying out of the “Forbidden Country”, as it happened after the Chinese Invasion. The invasion of Tibet took place because the Tibetans were fully concentrated on Buddhist philosophy and the material goods lacked, so they failed to protect the cradle of Tibetan Buddhism. That’s the way they lost their country. Nevertheless, they could run away taking with them the whole wisdom of Buddha in their minds

and bodies. Hence, the deeper level of spirituality which one can keep in his mind could still be transmitted, for the good luck of the western world, in which they took shelter. Flying on a real fragment of the Sacred Scriptures, as it was a Dakini, a woman dressed like a monk holds in her hand the dove of Peace. If Tara, the god-dess of Mercy and Wisdom, got reincar-nated, she would do in a woman’s body, in order to spread her beneficial action all over the world. Another Dakini, as a Christian angel coming from the Greek world, is touching the four-handed monk’s finger in the western gesture of the divine transmission (Michelangelo). It shows what is really happening today: western people connect with Tibetans and bring back a message to the world; Tibetan

Lamas go to the west, meeting disciples and making connections. Some of the monks fly sitting on the Sacred Scriptures and the one on the top is bringing the Scriptures away from Tibet, like the Dalai Lama did, when escaped carrying with him only the Scriptures of Buddha. The Buddha of Wisdom sits in the fore-ground of the painting, as a projection of the Wisdom Eye, corresponding to the utmost coil of the spyral. He writes with

three hands on a pc, meaning the right body, the right mind, the right speech. In the past Buddhas or Bodhisattvas used to carry their tools, as Vajra, bells, drums, etc. Now, due to today’s world communication system, they have to communicate by means of mobile phones, tablets or laptops. So, a sign of love takes the place of the apple sign on the laptop. Inspired by the Korean artist Nam June Paik, Tashi Norbu here means: taking action through communication.

104 x 170 cm, Mixed media, raw pigments, tibetan scriptures, acrylic and oil on pressure-treated plywood

The precious ElephantThe precious Elephant is one of the seven possession of the “ideal universal ruler” whose meaning lies in having one of the most precious human qualities: a disciplin-ed mind. On the embracing peach-blossom back-ground of the canvas, Tashi Norbu does homage to Hindu culture, where Buddhism originated, by narrating the Buddhist story of the wild Black Elephant. As symbol of the wild mind, at first it is represented together with the monkey, symbol of the wandering mind. Nevertheless, with the help of the light blue laces of the Wisdom, all encompassing, and thanks to the discipli-ne given by monks, masters and Scriptures, it makes pure, by the flames of sacred inspiration and it wins the Sky, after having annihilated the poisons of ignorance, desire and anger. In the painting the Sky is personified by three fragments of the Scriptures, arranged in the form of three horizontal lines, the icon

of the Hindu Lord Shiva. These three signs correspond even to the ancient Chinese trigram called Chenn, meaning precisely the limitless creation of the Sky.Shiva, the great Ascetic and Yogi of the Hindu Pantheon, is Lord Ganesh’s father, the Elep-hant God of Wisdom. The former is the destroyer of the illusion of ego and that of the world as well. In so doing, he allows the spiritual rebirth of the initiate.At the center of the canvas a serpentine waterway is followed by the Elephant, in order to purify its emotions. The animal appears to be black, starting from the bottom of the painting and, as getting the top, it becomes white with the help of the commu-nity of monks, whose motion is interlaced with bright flares of a flame towards the sky. The Elephant will become the vehicle of Bodhisattvas and at last it will carry in glory Akshobhya, the unshakable Buddha. 100 x 100 cm, Mixed media, tibetan scriptures, acrylic on canvas

The precious UmbrellaThe picture is devoted to the Umbrella Revolution which took place in Hong Kong in the year 2014. In fact “The precious Umbrella” refers to the yellow umbrellas used by all peaceful people gathered in the main streets of the town, asking for democracy.In the Tibetan tradition the Umbrella is one of the Eight auspicious symbols: it is a shelter of peacefulness and detachment, protecting from evil and from obscure forces. Here in the painting it hangs in the air where flying monks and angels appear with the meaning of protection and free-dom (opposite to imprisonment). Western social media were also the invisible umbrella under which the HK event was sheltered and became successful, as far as it was less fierce than similar move-ments now impressed in our memory, one for all, the Tien an men square protests. The praying nun, sitting in meditative posture as the divinity Tara, is an analogous symbol of compassion, giving safety and liberation: the theory of Tibetan monks and angels moves in spiral from her heart, flying to substain the mystic umbrella. All of them are also meant for return to one’s own beliefs and cult, looking for their original authenticity, the same one who produced the (good) result of protection of people from violence in HK. Ultimately, it symbolyses being oneselves, in the acceptance and study of the other cultures, but do not getting lost wondering around, superficially in other religious beliefs.The gilded background, representing the originary space of light from which every colour comes forth, is painted with several couches of yellow safran, marigold and other raw pigments: yellow is the colour of spirituality in Buddhism, as well as the yellow of gold came from the Egyptian

through Greek tradition to the Roman and Christian medieval painting as the spiritual light, background of Gods epiphanies or sacred conversations. The Buddhist flag itself is framed on three sides by the yellow colour, and is opened on the fourth meaning to the secularism. Indeed it could be seen as an opening to the other cultures/countries, as well as the light shelters all colours.The traditional Buddhist scripture inserted on the top of the painting is based on heart sutra. It symbolises the wholesome activity of preserving beings from illness, harmful forces, obstacles and so forth in this life and all kinds of temporary and enduring sufferings of the three lower realms, and the realms of men and gods in future lives. It also represents the enjoyment of a feast of benefit under its cool shade.80 x 120 cm, Mixed media, tibetan scriptures, acrylic on canvas

The Lapis lazuli BuddhaThe Lapis lazuli Buddha is depicted as one of the four Buddhas who have rea-ched the Nirvana. He is in the posture of the Bhumisparsha Mudra, calling the Earth to witness his Enlightment. On the other hand the nude icon of the Buddha shows his transcendental and indescribable nature: the one of the pure knowledge, called Universal Consciousness. Light is the clean nature of consciousness, that’s why the Buddha is painted the same color of the sky, pervading all over his undifferentiated consciousness. At first glance the figure of the Lapis lazuli Buddha shows its perfect balance of light and shadow, form and colors. The propor-tionate form comes from its Alexandrian ancestors and, in this case, colors are most-ly “cold” but of “igneous” quality. The light of the warm peach-blossom is cooled by adding blue shades: its brightness spread

over the surface of the cloth with a metap-hysical mark, the one of universal love. In its Nirvana appearance, the Buddha impersonal face brings western eyes back to the disquieting idea of an enigma. That’s why a similar pattern was used by Giorgio De Chirico in his “Metaphysical” paintings and even by his post-modern imitator the painter Marc Kostabi, with the negative shade of “depersonalization”. In the eastern culture the term is positive: when the mask, the persona (from Latin) falls down, the True Self appears, in a key of uni-versality. The traditional Tibetan coils of the ethereal clouds seem to be generated from the blooming form of the lotus, the flower of purity bearing the icon of Buddha: its blosso-ming period means the complete initiation of man, both in the East and in the West and consequently, freedom from all the incarnations. 76 x 106 cm, Acrylic on canvas

Connectivity of energy Tashi Norbu in collaboration with Astrid Klaasse Bos. Astrid Klaasse Bos paints, experiments, plays and fights with colours, surfaces and strokes. With a loose, almost impressionistic touch, she succeeds in creating contemporary works of art. The image arises out of a battle of contrasting strokes of paint, that from a distance all melt into a single unity. Thus t he i mage trancends reality. 140 x 140 cm, Acrylic on canvas

The vanishing pointTashi Norbu with the collaboration of Astrid Klaasse Bos conceived a painting where the moon represents the Absolute Light attracting the Tibetan monks out of the darkness of ignorance. They leave the spirals of the Samsara getting into the vanishing point of their egos, the Enlightment, in the same way the moths are attracted into the fire by the light of a lamp. They sinuously move along the moonbeams with the same swaying motion of the golden fishes that from the obscure depth of a pond move towards the sky, looking for the moonlight, mirrored in the plain surface of the water. The face of a western woman, her hand, and the arm of a male figure - maybe a couple - appear at the edge of canvas as witnesses of this process, as well as they represented spectators located on the trompe l’oeil wings by the Italian Baroque painters, admiring the frescoes of a dome. According to Plato’s philosophy, earthly love here is the first step to the celestial one. 135 x 150 cm, Acrylic on canvas

Time TravellersTime Travellers painted in an impressionistic style by Tashi Norbu. 103 x 158 cm, Acrylic on pressure-treated plywood.

The Pollock BuddhaContemporary western painting and traditional Tibetan canon find their extreme fusion in this artwork representing the classical silhouette of a Buddha head, traced with his white nimbus sprinkled with symbols. The latter are carved on the white coat of paint applied on a backing of ancient and sacred memory: the wooden board.The millenary mathematical proportions of the Tibetan traditional art are conveyed by the contemporary shamanic technique of “dripping “ the colors. This new attitude of “treating” the painting by flinging and spattering different colors on it, was used for the first time by the American painter Jackson Pollock, in order to express the mystical state of mind of one experiencing the depth of the individual/collective subconscious and meditate on the ultimate state of matter, after the bitter experience of the atomic bomb.The Pollock Buddha has the power of the greatest enigma, the one of the vision addressed to everyone’s inner Self. 50 x 70 cm, Mixed media on canvas

Burning of the ignorance and leaving behind wisdom mindSometimes, when the Bodhisattvas’ eyes are filled with tears, seeing the suffering of living beings, the strength of their compassion raises the internal temperature of their bodies, until they get unbalanced, wrathful, and they burn as a fire. This is the fire burning all the ignorance of our mind and leaving behind the pure and subtle Buddha’s nature.The slim figure of the Bodhisattva is shaped up from the elegant spirals of the fiery flames carved on the black background. It is accurately drawed by following the iconographic measurements that had been used by the Tangka painting of the classical age. The measures of the body are derived from the Greek style of the IV century B.C.: this was the time when Alexander the Great invaded India, and after his full retreat, left the Hellenistic canon as an inheritance to the East. The charm of this artwork comes from the fusion of eastern and western concepts and techniques, contextualized by the contemporary point of view of the Tibetan artist living in Amsterdam, but trained in the classical Tibetan Art. 76 x 106 cm, Acrylic on canvas

Essence of the primordial stateRecorded on the absolute light of the Akashic space, the Buddhist sacred Scriptures here are woven together as the golden texture of a Byzantine mosaic. After a long exercise of meditative visuali-zation, on the glowing background of the painted canvas, suggesting the eternity of the absolute Wisdom, Tashi Norbu paints a Buddha of Greek proportions.After countless past incarnations, six years of ascetic research and one night of temp-tations, the complete Enlightenment came to Sakyamuni, while he was seated under the Bodhi tree. The event was so sudden,

so that right before he called the Earth to be his witness. Then the Earth shook. Here Tashi Norbu captures the vision of Sakyamuni gesture, called Bhumiparsa. The artist draws the simplified body of the Enlightened one by a flowing, vibrant line, finally springing the ablaze nimbus crow-ning Buddha’s head. In their dance around the throne, and lighting their torch to the fire of Knowledge and Compassion, flying monks and Bodhisattvas slightly keep distance from the clouds of Impermanence.100 x 150 cm, Mixed media, tibetan scriptures, acrylic on canvas

Long life to the XIV Dalai Lama“Long life to the XIV Dalai Lama” is an homage to the highest Tibetan authority on earth, a man who has been dedicating his entire life to a strenuous effort on working for the emancipation of his country and moreover, for the enlightment of the whole world. Full of devotion, the figure of the “Ocean of wisdom” appears fully enlighted against the blue background of the canvas: he is painted with intense and rapid brush strokes, charged with pure and glowing colors. His Holiness is depicted at the time of greeting, when he is wishing people an auspicious day, good health and spirit, with pure respect: everyone is such stuff as he is made on and everybody really feels it.Painting on the opposite page: 50 x 60 cm, Acrylic and polymer on canvas

The unfabricated natural state, within unfabricated naturalness. 50 x 50 cm, Mixed media, tibetan scriptures, acrylic on canvas