Burning Lotus
© 1997 Ruary Allan
22" x 28"
oil on canvas

It's a controversial subject, partying. Our attitudes range from Puritan denial of anything pleasurable to hedonism (not so much an attitude as a state of oblivion), and to the idea that "the path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." I have found the last one to be true if you are discriminating in your excesses. This painting is an embodiment of Dionysian spirituality: beautiful, scary, and of crucial interest and benefit to the community. The fire of Kundalini life-force generated by the androgynous, lotus-postured figure, is ambiguously consuming its human channel while being the source of celebration and light to the dancers. Without the conflagration, we would be alone in the dark forest. The owl in the tree to the right also personifies ambiguity, representing both wisdom (European tradition) and death (Native American)

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