Larry Goode — Propping Up Heaven

Propping Up Heaven

Larry Goode

PROPPING UP HEAVEN

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Propping Up Heaven

In

Propping Up Heaven, I use paintings and drawings to create a meditative space through which the viewer is invited to contemplate awakening—or its metaphor, Heaven. The

paintings are paired with a Zen koan giving each work a unique meaning that varies from person to person—and by deeply considering the meaning of the merged work, the individual engages in mediation, realization, or as is sometimes described in Zen, an accident. The painting’s subjects don’t have an exact correlation with the koans they are united with. The viewer is completing the work by merging their interpretation of each koan with the individual paintings and therefore each painting can have as many different meanings as the individual interpreting them—all with equal validity. My interpretation of the work, as the artist, is the interpretation the viewer takes.

To support the meditative atmosphere of the show, the paintings mirror the Japanese flower arranging art of Ikebana, with its emphasis on space and hyper-intentional placement that fortifies an environment of contemplation. In addition, in many of the works I have incorporated Kintsugi, the Japanese art of assembling cracked pottery, by painting the cracks with gold to emphasize the beauty of the piece’s lived history. The broken parts are made whole by being part of the painting and the show is made whole (meditative) by the merging of koan and painting.

In addition to the large floral paintings there are small drawings included depicting cloud formations menacing the landscape. It was important to introduce an element of chaos to the show in order to provide a counterpoint to the meditative pieces. How can we have a still mind without a surrounding chaos to be still in?

I ask the viewer to stay silent while looking at the work. With that request I recall an old Buddhist poem as related by Alan Watts: a monk and his teacher are on a nature walk. And the monk exclaims, “The world itself is Heaven.” His teacher replied, “Yes, it is—it’s just a shame you had to say so.” Because by attempting to define the work with spoken words we stop being Heaven (in an awakened state) and are propping Heaven up—and giving it more importance than it deserves.

— Larry Goode

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Propping Up Heaven

MU! #2 48” x 48” MIxed Media on Wood Panel

Propping Up Heaven #2 10” x 10” Oil Pastel on Paper

Once at the Sixth Patriarch’s place, the wind was blowing and the [temple] flag was moving.

There were two monks arguing over this. One said it was the flag that was moving. One said it was the wind that was moving. They argued back and forth without reaching the truth.

The Sixth Patriarch told them, “It is not the flag moving, and it is not the wind moving; rather it is your minds that are moving.” The two monks were startled.

Wind, flag, and mind moving— The crimes are included in a single indictment.

They just knew how to open their mouths; They were not aware their words fell.

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Propping Up Heaven

Untitled Works 12” x 12” MIxed Media on Wood Panel

MU! #1 48” x 48” MIxed Media on Wood Panel A monk asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have the Buddha nature or not?” Zhaozhou said, “MU!”

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dog... the Buddha nature...

He fully expresses the correct imperative. As soon as you step into being and nothingness, You lose your body and your life.

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Propping Up Heaven

MU! #7 48” x 48” MIxed Media on Wood Panel Master Shishuang said, “At the top of the hundred foot pole, how will you take a step forward? ” Blinding the eye of enlightenment, Wrongly accepting the calibrations on the scale, Staking their bodies and lives and throwing them away, One blind person leading a blind crow

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Propping Up Heaven #3 9” x 10” Oil Pastel on Paper

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MU! #5 48” x 96” MIxed Media on Wood Panel Once the monks from the east and west halls were arguing over a cat. Master Nanquan held up the cat and said, “If any of you can speak, you save the cat. If you cannot speak, I kill the cat. ” No one in the assembly could reply, so Nanquan killed the cat.

If Zhaozhou had been there, He would have carried out this imperative in reverse: He’d have snatched the knife away, And Nanquan would be begging for his life.

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Propping Up Heaven

Propping Up Heaven #1 10” x 10” Oil Pastel on Paper

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MU! #3 24” x 24” Mixed Media on Wood Panel

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Propping Up Heaven #4 10” x 10” Oil Pastel on Paper

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Propping Up Heaven

MU! #6 48” x 48” MIxed Media on Wood Panel Emperor Shukuso asked Chu, the national teacher, “What would you wish me to do after a hundred years ?”

The national teacher said, “Make a seamless gravestone for this old monk.”

The emperor said, “I should like to ask you, master, for a design.”

The national teacher remained silent for a long time. Then he said, “Did you understand?”

The emperor said, “I didn’t understand anything.”

The national teacher said, “I have a Dharma successor, my disciple Tangen, who is well versed with this matter. Let him come to you and ask him about it.”

After the national teacher passed away, the emperor called Tangen and asked him about the meaning of this. Tangen responded: “The south of the river, north of the lake: (Setcho commented, “The single hand does not sound without reason.”)

In between there’s gold, which fills the whole land.

(Setcho commented, “A staff, hewn freshly from the mountain forest.”)

Under the shadowless tree all people are in one boat; (Setcho added, “The sea is peaceful, the river clear.”)

In the crystal palace there is no one who knows.

(Setcho commented, “The speech is finished.”)

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Propping Up Heaven

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If Yesterday Was Tomorrow 12” x 12” x 4” Oil Pastel on Paper, Wood Box 17

Propping Up Heaven

MU! #8 48” x 48” MIxed Media on Wood Panel A monk asked Tung Shan, “What is Buddha?”

Tung Shan said, “Three pounds of hemp.”

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The cheap-selling board-carrying fellow Weighs it out, three pounds of hemp.

With a hundred thousand years of unsold goods, He has no place to put it all.

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MU! #4 24” x 24” MIxed Media on Wood Panel

Propping Up Heaven Larry Goode September 30 – November 7, 2021 Link and Pin Gallery Thank you Debra Watkins and Kathi Herrin larrygoodeart.com linkpinart.com

© 2021 Larry Goode

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