As artists and humans, we want to investigate and explore everything. So how do we make a picture of “nothing”? I’ve been fascinated with depictions of the void for years, especially these more ancient renditions, below…
Is this mysterious void the beginning or the end? The source or the goal? Is this void in us all the time, despite all the “somethings” that keep us so busy?
Another word for void is emptiness. The Western go-get-em, Manifest Destiny mentality contradicts an appreciation of emptiness.
Emptiness may sound a dark, cavernous lack of the soul… but in Buddhism, emptiness refers not to nihilism, but to be empty of separation. It’s union and wholeness, empty of ego.
It is full of everything, full of life. The word “emptiness” should not scare us. It is a wonderful word. To be empty does not mean to be nonexistent. -Thich Nhat Hahn
Were you already there before you were born? Let me help you. To be born means from nothing you become something. My question is, before you were born, were you already there? -Thich Nhat Hahn
It’s a slippery understanding, that we can only get a glimmer of. It’s worth chasing because separation of “self” versus “other” causes so much suffering. In those glimmers of the void and emptiness, we can find peace…
Of course I wanted to make my own depiction of the void, surrounded by chaos and form, even partially covered by it, but there, nonetheless…
If you meditate, or take quiet walks in the woods, this concept may not be so foreign. You may already be familiar with the peaceful void.
♥ ~Meghan Oona
