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FORM
IN TRANSLATION
The Art of Judith Ernst
February 29 - May 31, 2008
JOIN US for an opening reception at the FedEx
Global Education Center at 5:30 on February 29!
What does “international education” mean in 21st century
North Carolina? Does it mean learning about the “other,”
about exotic, less-studied places and cultures? Or does it mean
engaging creatively with cultures other than our own in a way that
not only teaches us about those cultures, but also enlivens our
thinking about our own history and traditions?
There are three different aspects of Judith Ernst’s art that
are highlighted in this exhibit. In her gouache paintings illustrating
an ancient Buddhist Jataka tale, she re-envisions for a modern audience
the visual spirit that informed early Buddhist painting and sculpture
in India.
In another series of paintings she uses Indian and Persian art
as a starting point to bring out the similarities between the Old
Testament Song of Songs and Asian traditions in which there is an
implied continuum between longing for one’s lover and the
primordial longing of the created to be back, united with our origins,
at one with the Creator. Some original gouache painting from this
series will be shown, but also the entire series will be shown in
large-format giclee prints accompanied by text from the Song of
Songs. Viewers can view the images and read the entire text in sequence.
Finally, there will be a number of ceramic pieces exhibited, some
of which are three-dimensional versions of images found in Ernst’s
painting. Others are what she calls “metaphysical pots”
that are inspired by Asian metaphysical ideas, focusing on the dual
themes of the Water of Life, or the source of creation, running
out and into the Infinite Ocean, or the goal of mystical transcendence.
Learn more:
Song of Songs: Erotic Love
Poetry, adapted and illustrated by Judith Ernst
Earth Embracing Space,
Ceramic art by Judith Ernst
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