A mandala is a cosmic diagram that defines a sacred space. Sanskrit for circle, it’s geometric  symbols frequently form a square with four gates surrounding a circle with a center point. 

Mandalas have been found in cultures all over the world, since the dawn of humanity's attempts at  self-expression. Their symmetry harmonizes the symbols within their larger structure, while also  generating a surprising dynamism, however simple or complex the overall design. 

In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, mandalas emerge from a seeker’s inner spiritual dream journey,  with a structural balance that guides and supports a meditative path to enlightenment. I have long  been inspired by their design and purpose. 

In lieu of traditional geometric symbols, my mandalas place a single photograph in symmetrical  juxtaposition with itself. Graphic exploration leads to many surprises, as, when I start, I have no  idea how they are going to turn out. The process allows me to find harmony, symmetry, balance,  and dynamic delight in the resulting visual dance. 

With regard to our theme, BACH & BUDDHISM: Visual Fugues & Dream Palaces, I have loved  both realms since childhood, and now, via my mandalas, the two worlds connect. In them I find  a visual co-relative of Western music and Eastern meditation – cross-fertilizing Bach fugues with  Tibetan self-actualization practices. They express a fugue’s four parts presentation in time – theme, inversion, retrograde, retrograde inversion – as two-dimensional stillness; while also  employing the Hindu and Buddhist four-sided square/circle motifs. 

Meta-compositions derived from single images, as each mandala is created, the innate balance,  harmony, and dynamic symmetry of its source image emerges, revealing a compositional power that tends to go unnoticed when the image is seen only by itself. 

My mandalas do not attempt to precisely mirror these two worlds. Rather they are inspired by each, dwell somewhere in the space between, and seek to provide an artistic conduit to a domain beyond both.