New life forming; not yet inhabited by spirit.
An invitation fraught with drive to grow.
When I got the download for the Bardo of Becoming, it was very specific: the initial curl of migrating cells forming the central column of a fetus.
I’m not an expert, but according to my understanding of the development of a fetus, the cells of the central column are the first cells to migrate together in the womb.
Isn’t it totally mind-blowing that everything knows where to go?
The spine, the brain, the fingers, the eyeballs … the miracle of form!
In the center of the canvas, you see the central column taking form as a folded saddle or a green leaf or a curl.
There’s a primal force coming through this center, but one without any thought, as there’s no consciousness or spirit in the body yet.
It is taking form.
Mysterious & miraculous.
With the leaf there’s a tether, or cord, which represents the attachment to the mother or the womb.
To me, the left side of the painting feels like open space. Air element. The paint strokes on the top left look almost like wings of a bird or angel. The idea of spirit. Formlessness.
The right side of the painting is more suggestive of form. Body. Flesh.
From emptiness → to the realm of form.
If you're familiar with the Five Skandhas, this painting is about the first skandha: form, sensation/feeling, perception, mental formation & consciousness.
These three elements on the left ... I can’t actually tell you what they are or what they mean.
To be fully transparent, I actually found them to be irritants in the painting – so much so that I tried removing them several times!
But when I took them out of the painting, the painting became meaningless.
Not to say they’re the meaning of the painting, but there’s definitely a purpose to them … yet to be discovered.
Do you see something in them?
What do they mean to you?
When I see this painting hanging on the wall in my home, I always feel that it looks unfinished.
But maybe that’s because it’s … becoming.
As we all are.
In every moment.
Over & out,
Alison
P.S. I am exploring featuring this painting on the bag for Happy Belly Tea – which I specially formulated for mothers to drink when pregnant or nursing, but is also a nourishing blend for all as a digestive or to ease an upset stomach. What do you think? Does it fit?
