Black Buddha undergoing restoration |
What does it take to bring an inanimate object to life?
Featured is a rare large black Buddha. When it arrived it was in desperate need of restoration. Whole sections were missing or damaged; body parts were disfigured and roughed up; even its robes were disheveled, appearing like a relentless wind had eroded their smooth, flowing lines. It doesn’t look like that anymore. If you look at the pictures you’ll see its persona is beginning to shine through and its voice is returning. It is a work in progress and its message is gaining clarity.
Bringing a sculpture like this back to life isn’t easy. Restoration is itself an art taking time, talent, skill and technical ability. You have to know what is artistically proper and acceptable in terms of depiction and glean the history of the object, sensing where it has been and what it has seen. Most of all you have to listen to what it is saying. In the case of the Black Buddha, its voice became clear as work progressed. It promised to deliver an endless amount of compassion in exchange for a small measure of the same.
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