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| Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (11-headed) Tibetans would look at this painting as if it were cracking open. That is, as if the halo were a flower-encrusted seed that has at this very instant split open. As it separates, it exposes the figure of the eight-armed and eleven-headed Avalokitesvara. This is one of the simpler paintings of the collection but also one that reverberates with intensity. Here is a view of the shifting of light and sound through these alternately thick and thin lines, light and dark tones. The Bodhisattva is of tremendous size. The viewer may note the jeweled trees for a point of reference. Upon the lord of mercy's forehead is balanced the universe with all the varieties of thought that are contained in those heads. This is done as play; the universe for him is as light as a poppyseed. Lightness is created by the artist through the use of the curved lines that loop upward to the Buddha figure (Amitabha) above. The lights and darks create a chain of brilliant spots which equal a visual poetry, the chain also serving as a body of sound and light. |
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