Artwork by
Iswanto Soerjanto
2018
cyanotype on paper
54 x 75 cm
(framed in museum quality art glass)
This is a unique work
Currently in loan for the exhibition “Direct Contact: Cameraless Photography Now” at the Eskenazi Museum of Art (EMA), Bloomington, Indiana, USA. The exhibition is slated to run from February 16- July 9, 2023.
The works titled Arupadhatu and Kamadhatu are inspired by Buddhist spatial cosmology, as depicted in the Borobudur temple reliefs in Java. The reliefs at the temple explain the concept of the universe and the stages of human life.
Source Wikipedia
Formless Realm (Ārūpyadhātu आरूपधातु)
The Ārūpyadhātu (Sanskrit) or Arūpaloka (Pāli) (Tib: gzugs med pa’i khams; Chinese: 无色界/無色界;Jpn: 無色界 Mushiki-kai; Devanagari: आरूप्यधातु / अरूपलोक) or “Formless realm” would have no place in a purely physical cosmology, as none of the beings inhabiting it has either shape or location; and correspondingly, the realm has no location either. This realm belongs to those devas who attained and remained in the Four Formless Absorptions (catuḥ-samāpatti चतुःसमापत्ति) of the arūpadhyānas in a previous life, and now enjoys the fruits (vipāka) of the good karma of that accomplishment. Bodhisattvas, however, are never born in the Ārūpyadhātu even when they have attained the arūpadhyānas.
Desire Realm (Kāmadhātu कामधातु)
The beings born in the Kāmadhātu कामधातु (Pāli: Kāmaloka कामलोक; Tib: ‘dod pa’i khams; Chn/Jpn: 欲界 Yoku-kai) differ in degree of happiness, but they are all, other than Anagamis, Arhats and Buddhas, under the domination of Māra and are bound by sensual desire, which causes them suffering.
