Dancing Retinue series

These images express the dynamic yet dreamlike nature of wrathful sky-dancing Guardians. Their silhouettes are based on my drawings for the Protector mural paintings inside the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya at Shambhala Mountain Center, situated in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado. Each figure holds an amrita-filled skullcup in her left hand and a vajra-handled chopper in her right hand. Dancing naked in a variety of fluid poses, the proportions of the dakinis’ figures remain in alignment with the subtle and precise proportions of a buddha figure. Such pure architecture of embodiment allows their energetic gestures to arise untamed while their form remains upright, balanced, and powerfully at ease. The dakinis’ dance becomes an expression of complete playfulness, confidence and unconditional readiness to respond. This stainless clarity is highlighted in these cameo-like images by the absence of detailed form, illuminated and subject to the subtle passage of light throughout a 24-hour cycle.