| It’s easy to get trapped in doubt, laziness and a false sense of pride in this fast-paced culture. My work and life are an attempt to be direct and honest with myself, which automatically translates onto the canvas. Picasso said, “I do not seek. I find.” The finding is having confidence in every mark, color and shape. I’m dropping all my concepts in order to stay present, and to trust my gut. Meditation is about training my gut and my mind to be honest and skilled in handling situations, and therefore also my art. |  |
Found & Alive or Search & Destroy – Jill Blagsvedt
I have been an artist and a student in meditating on the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for about six years. Buddhism has heavily influenced my point of view and my practice of making art.
My View in Life & Art
It’s easy to get trapped in doubt, laziness and a false sense of pride in this fast-paced culture. My work and life are an attempt to be direct and honest with myself, which automatically translates onto the canvas. Picasso said, “I do not seek. I find.” The finding is having confidence in every mark, color and shape. I’m dropping all my concepts in order to stay present, and to trust my gut. Meditation is about training my gut and my mind to be honest and skilled in handling situations, and therefore also my art. Many people think Buddhism is about being nice and quietly compassionate. While these are qualities that a Buddhist strives toward in my tradition, we are also meditating in order to strip away layers of a false sense of self. This false self is the one we make up about who we are, what we like, what we don’t like, etc. It’s taking our labels to be real. Our true self is empty of all of that. From that emptiness springs our honest and heartfelt compassion and personality. It does not come from concept. Extensive meditation and study is usually needed before getting to this point. I am not claiming to have mastered it, but it is a view and practice that I take in my life and art.
My Paintings
My paintings do not have traditional Buddhist symbols, but my imagery is Buddhist because it’s about stripping away concept and waking up my mind to corners that I wasn’t aware existed, and that I could not have invented. Expressionistic animals and landscapes are some of the images that I’ve been naturally drawn to all my life. Recently, parts of my paintings have started acting as symbols of Buddhist ideas, but these ideas are so universal that I don’t care to call them strictly Buddhist. By working with these symbols in a repetitive way, I am using my minds-eye and am coming from this empty non-conceptual space that we all share, rather than my conceptual mind. In this space is where surprises and honest works come from.
If it seems like I’m not saying what my work is about, you are correct. It is up to you to see my work and to decide. If my being open and working from non-concept expresses something to you, then you can explore that. What is your gut reaction? Then, whatever it is, see if there is anything you can learn from it, or trust in it.
