Gaia Reborn
“Gaia Reborn” is my largest painting to this date. It is 101 inches long (257cm) and due to its complexity took me several months to finish.
The final version. There is 3 monkeys and quite a few birds, plus a dragonfly. Can you spot them?
This painting contains lots of my emotions about the state of this planet. I started painting it in summer 2015. During that time, I was going through period of deep sadness over destruction of nature and thriving parasitism at the very core of the system. The unsustainable greedy machine for profit that stops before nothing. Nothing is holy enough for human ego to pause just for a while and think about the consequences of selfish agenda that promotes hierarchy and fear on all levels. It engulfed me so strongly that I could not avoid but feel the sorrow of Gaia, our planet Earth. Now I know that it was my own sorrow, due to the lack of Trust in Life.
This was the first version with the space shuttle.
Not surprisingly, the first version of “Gaia Reborn” was quite different from the latter one. In the middle of the painting was a spaceship named Gaia 11, just about to be launched from the arms of gigantic Buddha. What this really meant was an attempt to escape the current world, leave it behind and build a new Paradise based on real spiritual values. The space-shuttle was the symbol of departure, leaving behind. After I finished it, I drove to the woods in the interior British Columbia and I camped out alone for few days. I needed time away from people, cradled by serenity of nature.
Detail of the central part.
During my stay in the Okanagan, my heart poured its sadness out and started to heal. I actually realized that an open heart cannot be sad. Sadness always comes from mind interpretations, expectations or ideas about how the world should be. Human heart is a shiny diamond that can only be forgotten and covered by layers of pain, but it can never be hurt or shut, let alone broken. It is always waiting patiently for us to remember its infinite and unconditional love.
Finishing the new, more positive version. Filled with light inside!
And I remembered. I recovered from my sorrow and came back with positive feeling of trust in higher intelligence that governs things beyond human control, including the evolution of humanity. I started to rework Gaia immediately. I got rid of the space-shuttle and eventually received a vision of the new version, with waterfall and two towers in shape of human DNA, connected by a bridge, upon which a couple was reuniting. I accentuated the rays of the suns and added two trees at the top of each tower.
Believe it or not, this was the first layer. The very beginning. First layers are always fun- so free!
This painting is currently exhibited at Floathouse in Vancouver Gastown. Floathouse is the largest sensory deprivation flotation tanks center in the world. It's a place where you close yourself up in a metal box filled with warm salt water, in complete silence and darkness, and meditate. If that sounds scary, I assure you, it is a very pleasant experience and once you get used to it, you can go really deep in your meditation. Not mentioning that the magnesium epson salt is super healthy for your body and that floating can relax your muscles in a very thorough way because you are “floating”!
Artist profession can be surprisingly VERY physically demanding. Building this frame, stretching the canvas (needs to be tight and my forearms were killing me from gripping the pliers!) and priming it was nothing easy. Not even for a dedicated yogi :)
The owners of Floathouse are my good friends Zaremba brothers. They are also founders of Vancouver Real podcast (I was blessed to be their featured guest 3 months ago). Zaremba bros will be flying to London this month to appear on the reputable London Real podcast.
Top section detail.
First I was bit worried about leaving such a precious large painting (currently priced at $20k but I think this price will be history soon), but then I realized that it needs to be seen by larger audience outside of my art studio. The sheer amount of feedback that I got from visitors of Floathouse was worth everything. Some of the emails I received were so filled with gratitude and honest open-heart vibrations that it made me see how profound the role of art in human awakening actually is.
Bottom left. Maybe you can spot the monkeys here!
This year, I am planning to “dethrone” Gaia Reborn from its size supremacy and paint a canvas of much larger dimensions. Some artists would probably agree if I say- it's not that hard to paint a large piece. But it's quite complicated to store/transport/exhibit/sell. This being said, I still love large pieces the best, because the visual impact is just exponentially stronger.
To hell with second thoughts! Art is a gift from Universe, and it should be seen and spread faaaar for benefit of all!
Thank you for reading and for following me!
Much Love for all of you,
Jan
Bottom right section. Cheers to those who can spot the dragonfly:)