Avalokiteshvara

If you don’t know, and I certainly didn’t before this project, Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He embodies compassion and the promise of release from suffering, and he is all seeing. He is often depicted as having many eyes and up to a thousand arms.

Good friend and collector of my work recently approached me about a commission. He sent me an image of Avalokiteshvara as a thought starter—it was the thousand arm version. I settled on the four arm version. I quickly realized I couldn’t improve upon such an iconic visual, which has basically stayed the same since its creation by Buddhist monks in the 7th century.

My “interpretation” comes to life through the words, colors and textures—weaving a loose narrative around having gratitude for the life we’ve been given, how bad events can lead to good ones and how maybe believing in something greater than yourself can help make it all feel a little lighter in our rapidly changing environment during this unpredictable time.