Symphony of the universe

I recently finished this painting which I had been working for over a year.
I had received the inspiration of the image that a swan and a black swan are merging face-to-face several years ago, and had been waiting for the timing to give a birth of it as a painting. I’m glad I finally realized it.

As I wrote in a previous post, I always receive a visual image, color impression and “feeling” which can be described as the frequency first when I start a new painting. Then the meaning of what I’m painting is gradually reveals step by step as I continue working further on the piece.
The same process occured this time, too. So, I think I'd like to try describing it because this one is quite symbolic and easier to show.

Well, at the time when I got the first inspiration of two swans, I immediately understood that it's about "Yin and Yang" - the duality and the complimentary principle.

As many of you probably know, this Yin and Yang concept (陰陽図) comes from Chinese Taoism, and also is very prominent in the philosophy of Zen in Japan.
This Yin-Yang symbol represents not only the dualism of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive) in this universe, but also indicates that there are no absolute borderline between Yin and Yang as a white dot exists in Yin and a black dot exists in Yang. These two energies are complementary interconnected and interdependent, and their union is a state of equilibrium in the universe.
This idea somehow has been placed in me for the past ten years, so I also had created some ceramic artworks with this same concept. → www.karisophia.com/duality.html

​​I also got an image of a circle behind two swans, and flowers around it, so I was painting by following the image. Then, as I continued further into the flower painting, I suddenly came to the realization that this is "Flower of Life".

Flower of Life is an ancient symbol that has been found all over the world.
No one can tell its accurate meaning because it's something that has been passed down since ancient times, but it is regarded that the symbol represents the unity of all life and interconnectedness of all beings - and I truly feel so, too.
​I found Flower of Life symbols in ancient sites when I traveled to Egypt, Turkey and Pompeii, Italy, and I know there are some in Japan.
It is very mysterious and interesting the symbol is existing all over the world. And considering that even Leonardo Da Vinci was drawn by this symbol and studying about it, it's no doubt that this is one of the most meaningful and sacred pattern in the world.

Flower of Life symbols found in ancient sites which I photographed.
Left : Osirion temple at Abydos, Egypt / Right : Ephesus, Turkey

Da Vinci's note for the study of Flower of Life

I kept seeing this geometric patterns with my another eye while I was painting flowers on a frame of the metallic circle behind two swans on the canvas.
​- I know this might sound a bit strange for some people - please just do not try interpreting it but accept it as it is, if you are not familiar with this kind of sense.

The next realization came when I was lying down in front of the work-in-progress painting.
I haven't been able to work on the canvas during some weeks at that period because I somehow couldn't focus on it, So, I was just staring blankly at the painting - then, I noticed there is another symbol hidden in it. It's "Vesica Piscis".

Vesica Piscis is Latin language means "bladder of a fish", and is a symbol composed of two equal circles, and the centers of the circles are on each other's edges.
The reason why this symbol is special is not only it has been existing since ancient times as Flower of Life, but also this is the primal form of Flower of Life. If you multiply the circles with the same rule, then you will see Flower of Life there.
While Flower of Life represents wholeness of the universe, Vesica Piscis represents the creation.
As the symbol easily reminds you of the form of cell devision, this indicates the primordial form when the very first creation occurs. It can be described that all creations in the universe begin from this form.
It also shows you the state that two different energies accept each other keeping their own nature, and transform, then create totally new energy.
This is the exact energy that I was sensing from this painting since the beginning.
I was impressed that the space between the necks of the swan and the black swan makes very similar shape to the overlapped part in the center of Vesica Piscis - of course I didn't plan to design like this at all.

Yin and Yang, Flower of Life, and Vesica Piscis - I thought these were all that I needed to decode about this painting, but one more symbol appeared when I finished this piece.
The last one is the picture below - it's "Enso".

Enso (円相) can be translated as "circler form", and it is a hand-drawn circle in one brushstroke to express the principle of the universe in Zen philosophy of Japan.
​What this represents is the simplest, hence the most difficult to interpret. Or, there is actually no need to interpret.
It shows the state of the universe itself. It is an infinite flow with neither beginning nor end. And its center is empty / void.
​I had an idea that it's better to fill the inner space of the circle of the painting some times, but it didn't happen after all. Even my mind pushed me to paint something in it, I somehow couldn't. And I understood the reason, when I finished the piece and knew the meaning.

​After I understood every meaning of this piece - duality and wholeness, creation and interconnectedness as the principle of the universe, I was so touched how beautiful all beings and its eternal flux are...! And I felt like it's a symphony of the universe.
So I titled the piece as "Symphoniae" in Latin.

And, here is the most fundamental truth as Enso shows us which is hard to be "understood" by mind.
Behind the grand symphony.... it's just empty.
This means that we are all just having a dream of the symphony in our consciousnessess.
Everything is just an illusion. What a mystery!

I made a short film with the painting. I think the emptiness is inadvertently expressed at the end of the film.
I would appreciate if you could let yourself soak into and resonate with the frequency of the piece.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ezbAVPV08

I was often painting with my bird on my head!