Gateway to Nirvana

Mountains are something that I love. I started skiing when I was 2 and successfully skied The Cliff at Big White in BC at the age of 5. I have also been lucky enough to have skied in the Alps. In this painting, I wanted to show both the potential for great adventure but also the risk of mountains. I chose bright orange to depict the sunny side of the mountain and a more dark hue to represent the mountain’s more sinister side. To me mountains, and the outdoors in general, represent a spiritual experience. Because of this, I also added prayer flags to embrace this concept. The last thing that I placed in the painting was a gateway in the centre of the canvas. This was important because for me it represents a lot of things. For instance it represents the difference between standing and looking at the mountain from a far – but not really entering it due to fear of the unknown. I think that we all have a choice of whether we stay on the safe road (shown with the tiles) or enter into the vastness of the unknown. Lastly, the gateway also represents the transition from the real world into the spiritual world – the Gateway to Nirvana.

Size: 60x48