In this picture I was inspired by the teachings of Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, who wrote “If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.” I use my art to explore Buddhist teachings, and I was interested in the idea that actions or decisions made by our ancestors created who we are today and the world we live in. In this respect, they are alive in us, and we are connected by those actions. Our ancestors and us are one, with time, birth and death becoming meaningless. The picture shows the letter ‘I’ crossed out, hinting at religion but also the delusion of us having a separate self. A wave pattern above and below the figures represents an awareness that we are like momentary waves on a vast ocean. We are both the ocean and the wave.
I am a full-time artist, spending my time working on a remote uninhabited island on the west coast of Scotland or in my Edinburgh studio.
- the artist