We’re all in this together and it’s going to be okay (Bodhichitta) - Michelle Postma
4’h x 8’w
Original Mural: High flow acrylic on MDO panel
Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized and suitable for indoor and outdoor display.
Artist Statement: Dear Missoula, This work is big and in downtown Missoula, so many people may see it. What do I want to say to everyone? What do I want to be emerging from this work? The first thing that occurred was “bodhicitta”*, which in my mind was this expansive heart feeling with everyone having it. “Bodhichitta” translates to “awakened heart-mind”. Then I thought about what artworks really bring me is the feeling of joy, an uplifting and lightness. The Dance by Matisse is one. It’s a single ring of dancers suspended in blue; it is inscribing the structure of the mural with infinity and life. After that I consulted with my cast of animal and human characters to see who would go where with whom and what all they wanted to be doing, going, or being. So you see, I put into my work both the cosmic and the super personal subjective experience of a dance in a Georgia summer night when your friends switch from tea to grape juice. Not to mention the questions of morality, mortality, birth-aging-illness-and- death, along with a host of memories and characters with opinions - who are mentally engaging with books, cartoons, and stories that people tell me about carrying sleeping chickens who coo cutely. Expanding and contracting, cosmic and microcosm - it is all one thing. We’re in this together and it’s going to be okay.
4’h x 8’w
Original Mural: High flow acrylic on MDO panel
Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized and suitable for indoor and outdoor display.
Artist Statement: Dear Missoula, This work is big and in downtown Missoula, so many people may see it. What do I want to say to everyone? What do I want to be emerging from this work? The first thing that occurred was “bodhicitta”*, which in my mind was this expansive heart feeling with everyone having it. “Bodhichitta” translates to “awakened heart-mind”. Then I thought about what artworks really bring me is the feeling of joy, an uplifting and lightness. The Dance by Matisse is one. It’s a single ring of dancers suspended in blue; it is inscribing the structure of the mural with infinity and life. After that I consulted with my cast of animal and human characters to see who would go where with whom and what all they wanted to be doing, going, or being. So you see, I put into my work both the cosmic and the super personal subjective experience of a dance in a Georgia summer night when your friends switch from tea to grape juice. Not to mention the questions of morality, mortality, birth-aging-illness-and- death, along with a host of memories and characters with opinions - who are mentally engaging with books, cartoons, and stories that people tell me about carrying sleeping chickens who coo cutely. Expanding and contracting, cosmic and microcosm - it is all one thing. We’re in this together and it’s going to be okay.
*** We appreciate your support of the Allez program and Allez artists. Please understand your purchase is a weather-resistant outdoor art piece displayed in an urban environment for public enjoyment for the duration of the exhibit. Normal wear and tear of an outdoor art piece should be expected. There are special inherent risks, such as, mother nature, accidents, vandalism that could compromise the artwork. Allez will make every effort to protect the work during exhibition and will be available “as is” at the conclusion of the exhibit.