Monk Beneath a Lotus Leaf

A small white monk kneels beneath a curling green lotus leaf.

The lotus grows out of mud and opens clean above the water, which is why Buddhist tradition uses it for the mind that stays clear whatever it rose from. The Chinese name, 莲悟, joins lotus to awakening. The leaf here is turned up like a hand shielding the figure, its surface the pitted green of old bronze, and the gold stem lifts one pale blue bloom over his head.

It is a piece for one person's corner rather than a hallway: a reading chair, a bedside, the shelf you face when you sit down to meditate.