#065 - Ricky Lee Gordon
#065 - Ricky Lee Gordon
Destination: Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka
Date: 4 - 11 June
About Ricky Lee Gordon
Originally from South Africa, Ricky Lee Gordon is now living and working in Sri Lanka, where he founded Śūnyatā, an artist residency retreat. From the studio here, Ricky works on his artworks from a meditative environment which allows him to explore his ideas without compromise. His work is inspired by his own experiences in meditation and Buddhist Dharma (the law of nature), sometimes his work is abstract and deconstructed and sometimes straight forward and didactic.
You can find more work of Ricky on his website: www.rickyleegordon.com
Details about the artwork
Medium: Wood block print, printed with oil
Dimensions: ± 27 x 32 cm (dimensions vary each print)
Edition: Edition of 35, each print has been individually hand finished with pigment, graphite and watercolor.
Signed and numbered the the artist.
A little word from Ricky…
“My Jaunt trip provided me with a sense of gratitude to be able to move around the island of Sri Lanka whilst the world was in lockdown. I travelled to the east coast of the island, to Aragum Bay, and didn’t have any expectations really. I found out that the east coat is so different to the southern part of the island where I live myself. Down south it is tropical and lush, while on the east coast it is dry, arid, and full of wild life. The ecosystem is pretty special here. The open expansive space of the sky and ocean made a big impression on me especially.
The print I have created, alongside with the canvas painting, fall under a series of works titled ‘The ocean our teacher of a romantic realism’. In ancient Eastern culture, the tide doesn’t just refer to water cycles caused by sun and moon, but actually refers to the concept of all time. Buddhist monks would ride/dance on waves for the emperor to show they could manipulate time. This image and idea carry a natural beauty to me, with the water being a teacher and water as time and existence itself. A surfer knows this feeling.
The Buddha taught that existence is infinite, a constant non linear cycle. Western ‘intelligence’ created the scale of linear time to measure the immeasurable, as we lost the ability to feel and sense the interconnected, interdependence and infinite of all life. Not forgotten, just faded waiting to be ignited. This is called Buddha nature, the idea that all beings in-separate and interconnected are all knowing and already enlightened within, simply just yet to be fully awakened.”
Travel diary
Monday, June 29, 2020
Today I left from my house in the south on a 6-hour journey up the east coast to arrive in my new studio / house for the next while. It is magical. The elephants were here to greet me Soorya and Taru. On the last photo you can see my accomodation for the next while, in the top left corner.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Day two. I woke up at sunrise to go surf, it was incredible to have the wave all to myself, not to mention elephants on the drive over. I then took the rest of the day to set up my temporary studio here, stock up on supplies from town and build a large canvas which will be my main piece for the residency and the work used for producing the print. I managed to get in a second sunset surf too.
Friday, July 3, 2020
Went exploring along the beach to take some reference photos for future paintings.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Days are slow here in the east. Nature is alive everywhere around me. I’ve fallen into a good routine, surfing sunrise and sunset at my favorite point break just one kilometer along the beach down from my house. I spend my days sketching and writing about the land and sea contemplating new paintings. It’s been inspiring to sit and watch the swell change over the last few days. Yesterday’s full moon brought a powerful shift in the environment. You can feel the new season moving in. I think this will be the theme I explore within these new works. Shift and change washing through and healing all pervading life
