Transcendence

Paintings by Tanisha Parson

Featured from October 20th – January 1st, 2019.

When I traveled to Japan, I visited a plethora of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. When I entered some of those temples, I felt as though my spiritual self was being elevated. After I returned to America, my mind continuously drifted back to my memories in Japan. Through the tea I drank, the music I listened to, the smell of perfume or the feel of the wind, I was transported back to my trip abroad and a sense of calm came over me. These works are directly inspired from my travels in Japan and the little moments I find myself lost in a dream-like memory. The image of water in my work represents transcendence. To me, this means elevating one self’s above their earthly expectations. At the entrance of any temple there is a Shinto purification fountain called a chōzuya. Water is also fluid, ever changing and able to reach the deepest parts of the earth and the individual. The figures being depicted conceptualize my feelings of being elevated and released from the conventions and definitions of my culture and society that overwhelm me. This feeling of elevation is unique for travelers who are placed in new surroundings and frees them from their own ideals of who they are. Through my travels and experiences in Japan, I was able to glean a deeper understanding of who I was before and who I was going to become, and express this in my artwork.

Tanisha Parson

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