Excerpt from the exhibition press release, courtesy of Glass Rice
“In her latest body of abstract work, Favin draws inspiration from The Ten Oxherding Images, a Zen Buddhist text from the 12th century consisting of ten figurative paintings with short poems accompanying each image. The visual narrative depicts the journey from the early stages of a meditative practice and to ultimately, a return to the original self. In the allegorical paintings, the ox represents the original self and the ox-herder is representative of the part of us that seeks the ever elusive 'original self’”
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Each image was painted between 2023-2024 and are comprised of oil and acrylic on cotton canvas, 48x48x1.5inch
— except for the final painting, which is on a 20 inch rounded canvas. Image 1 is available to collect. Image 7 will be available via Clars Auction House in November 2024.
Image 1 - Searching for the Ox (I seem to have misplaced my purpose)
Image 2 - Following the Footprints (The way we go from here)
Image 3 - A Glimpse of the Ox (윤슬, Whenever I see light on water)
Image 4 - Catching and Taming the Ox (3 steps forward, 1 step back)
Image 5 - Herding the Ox (Loosen the grip)
Image 5 - Riding the Ox Home (Look Ma, no hands)
Image 7 - No Ox, Only Seeker (Everything everywhere in the everyday)
Image 8 - No Ox, No Seeker (The Cave)
Image 9 - Returning to the Source (Everything a body of light)
Image 10 - In Town with Helping Hands (You were always whole)
Source material from The Met Online Archive and The Ten Oxherding Images translation from Wim Van Den Dungen.
