"Ouroboros" by Elizabeth Glaessner (2/18/23)

“Ouroboros”, a relatively small (16”x12”) oil painting by Elizabeth Glaessner, drapes a circle of nearly silhouetted figures over the shoulders and at the feet of a larger silhouetted figure in a field of green and blue-green with some yellow and brown at the ground.  The serenity of the coloring and depiction contrasts a bit with the action poses of the figures (one with an obvious erection), but I see the composition as more playful than struggling.

Chögyam Trungpa said that “Genuine art - dharma art - is simply the activity of nonaggression.”  The omission of sharp details in the figures along with the soft tones of colors conveys nonaggression even though the poses of the figures would be physically strenuous in real life.  The circular composition of the figures draped around the larger central figure reflects the painting’s title referencing the ancient symbol of a serpent eating its tail, but I was reminded of the Japanese Ensō, which can symbolize enlightenment and strength and peace.  The skillful and unselfconscious expression of nonaggression and peace exemplifies #DharmicArt to me.