2-dimensional design: reflections on a mandala

 

I feel like the process for this assignment was different from previous ones on pondering point and line or rearranging geometric and biomorphic shapes or using all those elements to illuminate a concept. It was challenging to find an interesting way to nest a circle within a square. I initially wanted to make a mandala that integrated Islamic geometric and biomorphic forms and spiraling arabesques, but the requirement for 4 implied textures from nature was incongruent with my wish to design something with only combinations of repeated squares and circles and varied tessellations. I noticed that some of my sketches included ancient Greek motifs of earth, fire, wind, and water (lots of emulation of Hamonshu), which became the center of the medallion. However, being in anthropomorphic god mode kept me thinking about the opening lines of Genesis where earth was formless and empty. The theme turned into fiat lux or let there be light in the void with a sunburst refracting in some way into a rainbow. I'd also been marveling at William Blake's Ancient of Days and Newton, which I reference in the hand and the compass of the composition.

A mandala as a symbol of a spiritual journey and guidance tool for meditation and psychological expression was a good exercise in which to play with forms from nature, abstract shapes, and ideas of transcendence.  I especially admired the Kandinsky example in the lecture notes--it would be fun to pay him homage and further render this assignment into even more abstract forms with some kind of radial asymmetry.

I had the usual difficulties of changing my mind on proportions of images and colors when I'd already started painting. It took me two do-overs before I finally decided that the background of air, fire, water and earth should be gray and that color in the painting be equal amounts of primary yellow to primary black. Painting a consistent line was super difficult--I'd either put too much gouache or not enough on the brush that lines were either too heavy or too indistinct and shapes were not uniform. Not. at. all. I so wanted to resort to a Micron pen to ink the drawing, but resisted and just made peace with my clumsiness. Almighty thanks to the tools of compass and ruler.