We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness XII, 2021
Natural mineral pigments, watercolor and ink on linen
76x76cm to 90x90cm
“We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness XII” is a series of new paintings where Tsai paints circular forms with natural pigments extracted from minerals, such as malachite 石綠, cinnabar 硃砂, agate 瑪瑙, and shell powder, then writes sutras in Chinese, as well as various mantras in Tibetan on them. The same pigments were used in cave paintings across Central Asia along the Silk Road, where the Buddhist sutras travelled through since the 5th century, and manifested from sanskrit into many languages before reaching East Asia. Many of the minerals were extracted traditionally for medicinal purposes. This series of work is dedicated to all the
lives lost during the pandemic years. The text written on this work is Samantabhadra’s King of Aspiration Prayer 普賢行願品 and is dedicated to all the victims of the recent pandemic and wars.
