巓洋 TENYOH
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  • 作品
    • 2006年 - 2014年
    • 1989年 - 2007年
  • Portfolio
    • TAKE ME TO YOUR MOON (2021 - present)
    • REFLECTIONS OF BEING (2019-2020)
    • REFLECTIONS OF BEING (2014-2018)
    • LITTLE BUDDHAS (2021-present)
    • LITTLE BUDDHAS (2017-2019)
    • SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE (2016-2017)
    • HEAR THE VOICE (2007-2014)
    • SIMPLE HAPPINESS (2006-2014)
    • SHADOWS & LIGHTS (1995-2007)
    • GLIMMER, WE SAW (1989-1992)
    • SUMI-E & DRAWING (1987-1989)
  • Art in Progress
  • My Thoughts
  • ABOUT
  • Etsy Store
  • 作品
    • 2006年 - 2014年
    • 1989年 - 2007年

Caring without Borders: What I Witnessed in Abkhazia

7/25/2013

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In black long dress with no makeup and her white hair covered by a black scarf, Lamara told me she had stopped dressing up since her only son was killed in a war against Georgians 11 years prior. Bitterness toward the former enemy continued to kindle within her. However, at her clinic where she had been serving without payment, the nurse practitioner did not segregate Georgian repartriates from Abkhaz. Her home was always open for anyone to walk in for emergency care.

Lamara inspired me to create the following image and the story.
Picture


For Their Sons and Daughters

The young man waited eagerly for civil war to ignite. When it did at last, he jumped at the opportunity to fight for the freedom of his people. His mother knew she could not stop him. She could only pray - pray for his safe return. It did not matter to her which side would win, as long as her son came home.

“A bullet went through his heart. There was nothing we could do to save him.” The news penetrated her heart as if her life also had ended. Yet another dawn seeped into her room through the closed curtain. A tractor stopped at her door as usual to take her to the hospital where she worked. Along the road, she saw decaying corpses of enemy soldiers. At the hospital, crippled or wounded young men looked at her through their agony and despair. They all reminded her of her son - the waste of life, inevitable byproducts of war.

One evening the fighting came closer to her home. After the shooting had long ceased, she dared look outside. In the twilight, she saw the vague shadow of a fresh enemy corpse. Soon the darkness engulfed it, but the image remained vivid in her eyes. She cried for her son again.

At dawn her lone figure, illuminated only by candlelight, approached the corpse.


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What I learned while serving as a hospice nurse in the poorest region in the US.

7/23/2013

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I volunteered for a hospice in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota in the late 1990s. The image originated from the priceless experience.
Picture











End and Beginning of Cycle


When death is near, loved ones, long dead, sometimes appear to escort the dying one. There may be a long, dark tunnel with bright light, calmness, and tranquility at the very end. It is beauty beyond description.

The phenomenon happens to some people regardless of religion, race, class, or age; no matter how spiritual or agnostic they have been; or how fulfilling or pitiful their lives have been.

Beauty and peace await us at the end of our journey. Through the brief experience of dying, isn’t the Creator showing us how nonjudgmentally He loves us?

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What to Depict in Art: Images that Satisfy Inner Callings vs. What May Sell

7/22/2013

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figurative sculpture
Making money out of my creations was not my priority. What mattered to me was that creativity served as an outlet of my thoughts and emotions. However, as I have been seriously trying to emerge as an artist, the urge to create images that may appeal to people overburdens me. Images that will conjure up serenity rather than disturbance in the viewers’ heart may be what I should create. I have been working on images of children from different cultures. They will be sculpted with sacred animals. A lady, who saw my first finished piece (photo), said, “It is so beautiful I’m in tears.”

I had been telling myself this was the way for a success….until I saw The War on Democracy last night. My smothered desire to contribute something for the ongoing struggles against injustice ignited again. I could do it the best through my creations.

After I slept overnight with the reawakened desire, I pondered on it again this morning. I felt a little at ease, thinking that I might be already part of the changes I desire to see in this world. I have been practicing slow food, sustainable living, and community building. In other words, my day-to-day needs do not feed the greed of multinational companies. My contributions are insignificant, but I believe that only when the majority of ordinary people in the First World begin to make conscious changes in their daily lives, a dawn could seep into the world of inequality.

With regard to the above-mentioned project with the images of children, I will make sure that each indigenous child will be with dignity and that my respect for his/her culture will be reflected upon the image. 

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    About This Blog

    This page is an window for you to see my creative process. I would  like to encourage you to leave your comments here. What kind of thoughts did my art provoke you? What viewpoint do you agree/disagree to? Your feedback will feed my art going forward. Thank you.



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