Original work: 15x14", Ink on paper.

I made this piece while in residence at ModNomad Studio, Sausalito, California, February 2019. The original work is in a private collection. 

I prepared my materials and then began as I always do: I lit a candle, offered incense, invoked Qwan Yin: bodhisattva of compassion, the mother of all buddhas, the divine feminine who I consider to be the trans bodhisattva (she manifests as different genders at will). I sat with paper and ink ready and waited, in connection with my body and the larger world, aware of the ocean waves on the beach in the distance echoing the waves of my own breath. Eventually some impulse arose and compelled me to move. I poured one color at a time, sometimes letting my whole body move with the ink in sudden bursts and gestures, sometimes leaning in close and moving the ink with my breath.

I returned to this piece many times, allowing layers to dry before adding in more. The very last thing was to add the finer brushwork.

About the title

While I worked on this painting I was reading Tami Lynn Kent’s “Wild Feminine”. Kent is a physical therapist who believes that as women living in a patriarchal society, many of us have cut ourselves off from our own root and that if we reconnect we will experience a surge of confidence and creativity. I began practicing her pelvic bowl meditations in which you simply tune into the pelvic bowl to wake up physical sensation there. As I practice this, I have powerful experiences. I started doing this meditations before painting, feeling my root and then sensing vertical energy rising up and down my central column. This painting is in direct connection with that sensation.

You may notice that the piece is signed "Betsy McCall 2019" in the lower right hand corner. I made the original before I received my dharma name and started going by Suiko. For more about my name change, take a look at my blog posts.