Luminous Transcendent

The exhibition is comprised of three meditations on the idea of transitoriness - the inherent beauty of
presence becoming absence through process of continuity, transformation and evanescence. I wish to
evoke a space of contemplation in the gallery, as the viewer experiences emptiness as a universal and
unrelenting force in nature. The works are created by meditative introspective processes involving the
practice of Mushin – a total absorption in a task. Intention is to physically present “nothingness” in the non-western sense of a place or space to which one can be oriented through non-critical awareness of one’s essential involvement in that space or place. One is essentially involved through the awareness of the absence of the conventional boundaries between ones ‘self’ and one’s ‘environment’, the work invites “self-transcendence”.

Forms of presentation
A representation of a vast, void space to which the viewer is oriented as to nature, chiefly through a
horizon line. Reflective features of the surface involves the viewer in an empty space by reflecting the
viewer back to him or herself. The works’ visual luminosity conveys a possible fullness or presence in
“nothingness”.

Luminous Transcendent
These paintings are made by sanding, etching, fire, heat, automotive lacquer and phosphorescence.
Luminosity is revealed from the dark areas of the steel surface as day turns to night. This is the
suggestion of an emptiness that is alive with potential, a surface that is literally and metaphorically
enlightening, and an experience of nature in a constant state of transition. The solid, hard, inert properties of steel are transformed to reveal the illusion of permanence.

Shizuka [meditation series 1-31]
These prints are made by the ritualized mark making gesture of the press machine - a single metal plate
printing pure liquid graphite. I chose this medium because of its ability to transform the paper into a
metallic surface, and because of the of shifting tonality I could achieve between a print full of ink and print
without ink - we may experience emptiness at both these extremes, and transitoriness in the states in
between. The mechanized repetition of the press was a suitable metaphor for the unrelenting force of
nature - as the ink runs out the print moves quietly towards a state of nothingness full with potential.
 
miya ando, new york 2009