Callum Krotofil - Buddhist Artwork Assignment Draft
During the school excursion to the Zhu Lin Buddhist Temple, our class viewed a great variety of traditional Buddhist art pieces which included sculptures, paintings and calligraphy. These different kinds of artwork assisted me in choosing meaningful and powerful elements to use in my drawing. Swastikas and Mandalas were both a very common sight in and around the temple and I eventually choose to implement both of the symbols as parts of my creation. In addition, the documentary we viewed, The Buddha, displayed the heavy focus on representations of Buddha himself throughout Buddhist artwork and thus I decided to use a depiction of Buddha as the focal point of my creation. Both experiences…show more content… Every single aspect of this drawing holds special meaning to the Buddhist faith. Gautama Buddha is known to be the founder of Buddhism and is the focus of many different works of Buddhist art. I drew Buddha in a traditional position that is common in many depictions of him, sitting under the Bodhi tree. He is wearing traditional Buddhist robes, has one arm placed across his waist and the other by his side, he has his eyes closed in a peaceful expression and has circles behind him showing divinity and enlightenment. The lotus position is another important connection as it is the meditation position of practitioners of the Buddhist faith which connects with Gautama Buddha’s total enlightenment of both body and soul. The mandala which Buddha is holding is a representation of the universe and are also commonly used in Buddhism as a way to assist in meditation. The mandala features a swastika drawn into the center as it represents prosperity, luck, security, glory and good. All of these elements work together to create a meaningful piece of art that touches upon fundamental beliefs of the Buddhist…show more content… The religious diversity of Australia allows people to be exposed to a variety of beliefs from a variety of religions in comparison to many other nations. Australia currently possesses two major art conventions dedicated to religious art, the Blake Prize and the Mandorla Art Prize. The Blake Prize aims to award artists who explore issues surrounding spiritual thought and religion through modern art. The Mandorla Art Prize attempts to balance out the predominantly secular focused modern art scene. These two prizes feature a great number of very different entries, though traditionally they have a significant focus on indigenous styled art. The artists and judges of these events come from a variety of different backgrounds, both in terms of religion and education. Last year, the winner of the Blake Prize was a piece called Metamorphosis which explores the transformation of the physical into the spiritual. The piece is drawn in traditional aboriginal style and features a man transforming into a butterfly on the way to the spiritual realm. The artist, Trevor Nickolls says that “I have included elements that are both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal like the peace doves on each side of the Aboriginal man which are Christian.” This displays the multiculturalism of Australia and
