The Womb & The Diamond, 2021
Installation made of handblown glass, mirrors, and a diamond 300x600cm
Commissioned by Live Forever Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan
Photo by Anpis Wang, Courtesy of Live Forever Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan
The Womb & The Diamond is a large-scale installation composed of an assemblage of over a thousand pieces of glass and mirrors. The diagram is made in reference to The Womb & The Diamond Realm mandalas from Koyasan in Japan. Two principal objects are placed on each side of the mandala: a womb-like glass piece blown by renown Buddhist teacher and filmmaker Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche after a recitation of the Dependent Arising Mantra representing all-encompassing space and a diamond representing indestructibility. Known for writing mantras on ephemeral materials, for this project, Tsai experiments with using breath and the sound vibration of reciting mantras to form each glass piece.
