The Cosmic Nature of Divine Mother Expressed through Art
March 24, 2022
Many Aspects of Divine Mother
Ananda Village recently opened its first-ever art exhibit that explores the cosmic meaning of the Divine Mother. The show allows artists to explore what the concept of Divine Mother means, expressed from their hearts and their faith.
The "Many Aspects of Divine Mother" art exhibit is at The Lotus Building (near Master’s Market & Deli) in downtown Ananda Village, 14618 Tyler Foote Road, 12 miles outside of Nevada City, California, 95959.
The exhibit runs through September and will be open Saturdays, 10 am to 2 pm. During Springtime at Ananda (the month of April) the gallery will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-4, and on Sundays from 12:30-4.
The art exhibit offers an online catalog to view and purchase art.
The beautiful music in the video is the piece "Dark Eyes" by Swami Kriyananda, performed by Panduranga from his album "Divine Mother Soul Calls."
Art can be very meditative. For many artists, opening up and letting higher consciousness flow through them can be very healing. In this way, as Swami Kriyananda says, “the channel is blessed by that which flows through it.” Rather than having art be “something that goes well in your house,” art can be a vehicle for expressing higher consciousness. In his book Art as a Hidden Message, Swami Kriyananda talks extensively about the need for consciousness in art.
“After I visited the Divine Mother art exhibit I felt my heart opening,” said Phouvang, a resident of Ananda Village. “That whole day I felt so uplifted and filled with Divine Mother’s love.”
For some artists, Divine Mother is all of creation, manifested through nature. Other artists have expressed the Divine Mother in holy form, as a saint, or a heavenly figure. Twenty-two artists offered installations for this show.
How do the artists view the Divine Mother?
Jyotish Novak, spiritual director of Ananda, is also a painter. He has two paintings in the show, one entitled "Dark Eyes" and another of a tiger entitled "Rani of Ranikhet". Of his painting of the tiger, Novak recalls, “We were blessed with a marvelous sighting of Divine Mother in the form of a tiger while in India in 2014. Here I’ve placed the tigress in a setting of the high Himalayas as seen from Ranikhet, India. It is, or used to be, the territory of wild tigers.”
Paula Madariaga Decebal-Cuza was born in Santiago, Chile. She titled her painting "Divine Mother Eye". The painting shows symbolically the Divine Mother represented with certain colors of the Christic eye, inviting us to reflect on its uniqueness.
Rama Cryer, who grew up at Ananda Village and is a builder, chose the Eternal Mother Earth as his theme, expressed through woodburning, acrylics, and ink. Of his installation he writes, “Our Divine Mother manifests in my heart as this, the Eternal Mother Earth, Her arms outstretched delivering Her energetic force of Creation. Above, the Cycle of the Moon guides her way. In her left hand, the Druid Sigil releases its magic to generate the Sacred Flower of Life and Wisdom. From Her lower right, Her Heart Chakra spreads Love. In the middle right, the Spiral of the Wicca Mother and the Ankh are ablaze with Her power of Destruction and Freedom. Her body is of the Earth, Roots growing deep and farther than the eye can see.”
Mira Clark also grew up at Ananda Village and has taught art at the Ananda Living Wisdom School. She is a local Nevada City artist who has organized several art exhibits on behalf of CHIRP (California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project). She chose to represent her love of nature in the form of the Divine Mother with a painting titled "Water Prayer". Of her installation Mira writes, “There is a correspondence between how our bodies connect us to the Earth, our organic forms passing through the same cycles that all nature goes through. My work considers women’s connection to Nature as well as to the element of water. In many traditions and cultures of the world, women are considered the keepers and tenders of the sacred element of water. I see my artwork as a representation of how deeply connected all of human life is to the natural world and the different landscapes we inhabit, and how sacred our bond is to the natural environment.”
Sharon Taylor has been part of Ananda for many years. The title of her painting is "Heart of the Divine Mother." Says Sharon, “The thing I got from reading Swami Kriyananda’s book The Artist as a Channel is that the artist must hold up a clear vision of the consciousness they want to communicate, then that vision begins to flow. As an artist, I always meditate first. Whatever piece I’m working on I try to hold the consciousness of the quality I want to convey. For this particular piece the name that came to me was ‘the lotus’ and ‘Divine Mother’. Then I ask Yogananda to use me as a channel to express this quality.”
Who Is Divine Mother?
Is she a myth, a cloud, a bird, or a feeling?
A tigress, a shell, a bee, or a healing?
Does she live in the ocean or up in the sky?
Perhaps she’s a river flowing along,
or someone’s mother singing a song?
Maybe she’s hiding beneath the veil,
A lovely mountain, a sacred tale?
Is she the moon, guiding our way?
A beautiful symbol, child’s play?
A thousand Vedas do declare,
Divine Mother’s everywhere!
How does the artist capture her role?
the bounce of a feather? the depth of
her soul?
--Nayaswami Nischala