Purple Universe
Purple Universe
When it comes to writing or painting about sex, I’ve usually been quite shy and hesitant. Happy to chat about it in casual, fleeting conversations, of course. But there’s something about immortalising my thoughts, ideas and feelings on sex through art that’s a little bit daunting. And perhaps a little exposing? Do I really want to reveal something I consider so private about myself through painting? And if so, how do I begin to translate it into my own style? The subject of sex has been painted, sculpted, sung, or written about by countless, countless people.
Have you seen, though, how sex is portrayed in Buddhist art? My boyfriend and I were chatting about it a few months ago. He said I should make my own version, especially since my art style is heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhist painting. I suppose it was him who gave me the confidence to create this piece. I considered the Buddhist paintings, marvelled at all the colour and the serenity and the movement.
Buddhas and their consorts sit in an eternal embrace, adorned in intricate ornaments, their eyes narrowed in bliss. They make love—quite literally. It’s an expression of compassion, not simply a way to fulfil a temporary base desire. In Tantric sex, as I understand it, the goal is not to reach orgasm. Sex is more like a joint meditation in which awareness is achieved. And to these Tantric artworks, there is an openness about them. They are made of so much beauty that there is no need to shyly avert one’s eyes, cheekily giggle, or tut at such obscenity. You feel a desire to stare, not in a perverted way, but in a way that makes you want to find enlightenment via sex also.
It is this style I used to explore the spirituality within sex, particularly having sex with someone you are in love with. The style and positioning of the central figures are a direct reference to these old paintings, but I have incorporated some of the more cosmic and psychedelic elements of my own art style. Surrounded by playful, planetary nymphs, the Buddha in my painting appears as a celestial being blending into the purple background of the universe, as bright colours rain down. As well as this, a great, reaching tree grows upwards and out from two more earthy figures. I have often used my work to engage with the natural, the cosmic and the spiritual, and this painting expresses how making love can sometimes be a connection to all these things at once.
