Yang No. 6

Encaustic (Pigmented Beeswax) on Canvas over Wood Panel,
Polytych (6 panels), installation view 81"h x 24"w, 2004
$2750

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What is Yang?

Yang is Hexagram No. 1: Kh-Yen (Heaven Above Heaven) of the I Ching.

The artist asks one question in the Yang Series:  What is the virtue of a relationship?  Virtues are absolute and forever, so one may logically say that there is no virtue in something that does not last, as in relationships.  Even the best wither, as lovers die and memories fade.

The ancient Chinese I Ching divination system reveals hidden answers at work in our lives.  By asking a life question, and then by tossing 3 coins six times, the artist draws a series of code lines.  The six-line configuration is called a hexagram, lines drawn, either unbroken or broken.   

The lines are drawn starting at the bottom and proceed to the top until there are six lines altogether.  Each group of three lines are called a trigram.  Each trigram represents a force of nature:  Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Water/The Deep, Mountain, Wind/Wood, Fire/Sun, The Marsh/Mist.   Yang is the very first hexagram of the I Ching, a twin trigram representing heaven below and heaven above. 

The attributes of Heaven are:  inspiration, power, aggressiveness and completeness.   The two trigrams, six unbroken lines, become the departure point for the painting and further cultivated as an organic abstract landscape. In Yang No. 5 the three pairs of lines are deliberately joined, unlike the previous in this series.