Seven – Prints | Michel Droge

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Seven – Prints

This work is based on the Japanese symbol Enso. It is an image of an incomplete circle that represents the continuous flow of energy . It symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe and the void. It is all and it is nothing. both continuous, yet incomplete (like the flow of energy).

It is about inside and outside, empty and full, void and universe. Enso depicts the opposites in any situation and represents how close these opposing ideas actually are.

for this body of work I made seven plates – one for each person in my nuclear family . I made this series on the one year anniversary of my brother’s untimely passing.

I made them for him because Family was the most important thing for my brother. It was always that way, but it was also the source for his pain. these opposing ideas of life and death, joy and sorry and emptiness and fullness are represented in this work. His life was incomplete and that is why the symbol is drawn without closure.

Although there are seven plates- they are not directly correlated to a specific person in the family. The reason for this is two fold- one is that in a family system, we are always switching roles and redefining ourselves within the family. we tend to trade off positions and roles as the situations indicate. Any one of us could have been in my brothers place when he passed . We all played the role he was in when he died.

We are all one.

The second reason is that this Zen symbol is about change, movement, enlightenment, and imperfection. It is also representative of the person being “part of something greater and that imperfection is an essential and inherent aspect of existence”

So here they are – for you my brother , with my deepest fondness, love and gratitude.