Bhumisparsh Mudra

This artwork was created following an art camp in Cambodia which was an immensely humbling experience. On the one hand I was exposed to a world steeped in mythology and art, a sacred world where monumental face-towers and sleeping Buddhas elevated the human self to mythical dimensions. On the other, standing in front of a monument of skulls brought me down harshly to earth. The futility of war and destruction, its profanity dwarfs and nullifies human existence. This polar experience, the sacred and the profane, the yin and yang of life brought to mind the following beautiful haiku by Issa:

Where there are humans
you'll find flies,
and Buddhas.