Creating Mandalas
Fortunately I live by the Sea in North Devon, the beach has been my place to get fresh air and exercise during Covid-19 lockdown, especially as I have been able to take advantage of the sea with regular cold water swimming. Inspired by the creation of land art, along with my photographer daughter Shena Ruth, we created a mandala with shells. The idea behind this is to research the potential of the landscape to create an inner experience. So what type of inner experience could be gained from creating in the landscape. Usually when I am on the beach I am walking or swimming, I struggle to sit especially in hot weather. I find calmness when painting or drawing in the studio, So I wanted to research whether creating in the landscape gave me the same calmness.
Yoga, breathwork, concentration and meditation
I chose to create a mandala as they are often used in art therapy. The meaning of the word mandala in Sanskrit is circle. The circular design of the mandala symbolises the idea that life is never ending and everything is connected, we decided to add the 8 offshoots to link with the 8 limbs of yoga. These include breathwork, concentration and meditation however ironically it also includes pratyahara which is the withdrawal of the senses. Albeit this process might in the longer run heighten our senses?
Land Art
Land art is art that is made directly in the landscape. Land art is varied and involves sculpting the land itself into earthworks such as the work Spiral Jetty created by Robert Smithson in the 1970’s. or making structures in the landscape using natural materials such as rocks or twigs as with artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and James Brunt. One area that I could delve into a little deeper is to investigate what inner experiences these named artists experience when creating art in the landscape.
Psychogeography
When creating the mandala and and upon completion, I felt a strong link to psychogeography which is described by the Tate as the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The emotion of creating this piece of art by being in the landscape was very much one of calmness. Not only the act of seeking shells but also just sitting on a remote part of the beach and just awakening the senses to the smell of the sea, the smell and sound of the sea birds and the feeling of the sand on the body.
There is a quote in Green line by Francis Alÿs ‘Sometimes doing something poetic can become political and sometimes doing something political can become poetic.’ I can find kinship with this statement as working with shells as although it was meant as a contemplative activity for myself, i could develop this into an environmentally piece by including other images which might involve plastics washed up on the shore line.
