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Doug Westendorp
Contemplative Art
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On what is seen and unseen

8/30/2021

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Mandalas, in my experience and as I understand their usual intent, prefer to live in a wordless space, dancing quietly to some wordless tune. Or even a tuneless tune. A good mandala -- an effective mandala, I believe -- creates its own space. So I do not intend these images to appeal to a particular sense, state of mind, mood, or concept, except in the way that all mandalas might: tangentially, a little off to one side. If they do, it's all to the good. But at the core of a mandala, which always circles around a strong center, is a contemplative focus for both creator and viewer. If time is spent with such a design a centering of "self" may occur, in which mood, state of mind, and even concepts themselves might fall away.
 
This centering, of course, this release from the burden of distraction of thoughts and feelings, is the richest of transitions any of us can make, because we find ourselves moving in strange and circuitous routes to the one place we have always wanted to be, the place, in fact, that we never really left, our own breath and life.

Picture
10 x 10 inch Square Mandala. Cut paper on board.
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Paper doily

8/1/2021

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Picture
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Television Test Patterns

8/1/2021

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Picture
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    I am an artist. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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