| More FATHOM Images |
| Exhibitions Junko's Writings Publications Selected Works About Junko Reviews Contact Links Home | | Mountain With Lights (4 panels, each 12 feet high, 3.5 feet wide) This the final scene of Fathom. Kuukai predicted his own death, went to the mountain forest and meditated and died. But it is believed that Kuukai never died and is still meditating in the mountain even today. This is that mountain. There before his death he performed one of most specutacular ceremonies. People young or old, poor or rich, carried little oil lamps so that the mountain lit up. This symbolized that we all light up the world no matter how poor or powerless we are. Mountains and forests are holy places in Japanese tradition, just like the Desert is a holy place in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. In those holy places prophets cultivate their spirits and talk to God and receive revelation. I wanted to create that kind of passionate, dramatic mountain here. Dancers in Front of PERILOUS OCEAN This is the ocean scene. Kuukai crossed the ocean to the cosmopolitan city of Chang'an in ancient China at the Eastern end of the silk road, where all civilizations, and cultures of east and west encountered each other. Kuukai was going there to study Esoteric Buddhism so he could bring it back to Japan. This was a trip that the Japanese Emperor sponsored as a governmental project. It was a glorious honor to be chosen to be on that boat but at the same time it was a most dangerous voyage. Over many years only a few who went on these trips to China came back to Japan: Most of the boats sank to the bottom of the sea. This work, titled "Perilous Ocean", represents the spiritual voyage. The three things that the spiritual hero has to go through according to mythology - a night sea journey, a dragon fight, and quest for a hidden treasure -- all three are behind this scene. The hero represents the power of independent consciousness and the monster represents the dark power from the unconscious territory. This is the voyage that we all have to go through in order to reach to spiritual growth. The complete set of 40 panels may be viewed by opening this booklet: Be sure to adjust the size of each page so that you can view each entire image on your monitor. |