turning the wheel: a travel game

phase I

The Pure Colours of Our Relations

In 1994, I began to develop a body of artwork while participating in the Mudra Space Awareness classes at Naropa University –the presence exercises developed by the meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The resulting paintings eventually culminated in the performance-art piece, Turning the Wheel: A Travel Game, a six-foot square montage of 35 nine-inch square panels showing the mudra Turning the Wheel of Dharma. Each panel was painted as a reflection of the ambiance created while engaging with others in the being circles. At the end of the semester, the work was shown in a final presentation as a group-generated spontaneous arrangement. In its final form, the artwork is a large tile puzzle, in which the 35 squares can be moved by hand in an endless variety of ways with the 36th square remaining always empty.

6’x6’ black lacquer wood frame
35 painted 9”x9” panels, gouache on paper

Original Artwork: Private collection, Hawaii