Artist: Ang Tsherin Sherpa
Date: 2010
Museum: Rubin Museum of Art (New York, United States)
Technique: Gold Leaf
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition death is not feared but accepted, as attachment to the ego is the ultimate obstacle to enlightenment. So it is not uncommon to see smiling skulls and dancing skeletons in traditional paintings, similar to the pop art array of multicolored mini skulls in this painting. The positive confrontation with the idea of death takes on an ominous quality here with the presence of bodhisattvas wearing gas masks. Conventionally portrayed as young, lithe men at the peak of their beauty, bodhisattvas compassionately postpone full enlightenment to guide humanity toward liberation. Though they wear traditional ornaments and garb, Sherpa’s bodhisattvas look like soldiers prepared for battle—muscles flexed, fists clenched. It provokes the question of what kind of obstacles bodhisattvas must conquer in the modern age in order for humankind to attain enlightenment.
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