Thesis:
Whether we are looking at esoteric systems which define the universe, our own body, or states of consciousness, we see the same thread and structure appear over and over. This structure is within music, visual art, yoga, and cosmology. Ola Sun has been investigating this overlap through a few angles: her art making process, depth psychology, esoteric study, yogic philosophy, and direct contemplation. The goal of this show is to create spaces for deeper contemplation by those who view these images into their meaning, and through her presentations, discussions, and sharing, Sun’s hope is to discover ways that we can use art, sound, visualization, and yogic philosophy to expand consciousness and allow wisdom to arise from within.
Going Deeper:
During the lecture/discussions, artist Ola Sun will share some of the last 5-years of her exploration into symbol. These events will present the findings within her work, share a variety of systems (especially focused on yoga) that all point to the same central axis. Sun’s intention is to allow a community process of deepening our awareness and utilization of symbolism in our lives.
Intention for the project:
In my late teens, I began exploring my father’s Hindu books on yoga and tantra, which is where I first learned of the chakras. Since then, I have spent a lot of time mapping the parallels between world esoteric traditions, seeing the same “map” of reality in them all. As an artist, I have had a fixation on this “universal code,” and have a great enthusiasm for connecting the sacredness of these world traditions with the very elements of art making itself.
Tantra and yogic philosophy have already paved the way for this: the 7-colors of the rainbow have correlates to the 7-chakras, 7-seed sounds, and it is clear that these 7-“tones” or designations are in fact the planes of reality on which our human existence lives. We not only inhabit the levels/worlds of these 7-dimensions; we ARE them.
As I contemplate and study the structure that makes up both our human consciousness and our human bodies, certain images arise repeatedly. Through presenting these, I hope to invoke an inner focus. The Indigenous peoples and cultures of the world over have held analogous mythic cosmologies that name the human body as the world and vice versa.
This exhibition is my first experiment in bringing my studies to the public. It is my opinion that, however elusive some of these explanations may be; they are actually as close to home as anything can be… This is because we ARE these patterns in living form. My hope is that my work, along with discussions and lectures, will spark an inner trust in this truth, and, like yoga, give a signpost and promote a lived experience of the immensity of creation just in the simple fact of being. I hope that we can also learn to recognize and utilize the power of symbols towards this end.
