The Transforming Breath 4/6 VE

This woodcut is from a Variable Edition of 6 hand-pulled prints.  Each piece in the 6 prints has elements that are different from any of the others hence it is called a variable edition.  In this print the bird/man image is orange and the 3 feathers are blowing beyond the bird making it different from any of the other prints and thus an original piece of art.  She breathes and in breathing influences mind and body, what we see and what we understand of what we have seen, felt, experienced.  Her breath transforms.

The images (face of the bird and the person breathing the feathers) are actually of people I met in Beijing.  I have often been asked if it is indigenous and I'm always struck by the similarities between these very different people.  It feeds into the philosophy that we are all one and now more than ever, we need to work as one people  on the earth.  While this series is an homage to the beliefs of different cultures it is also to some extent an homage to the practice of yoga.  In yoga, breath as the life force is essential and mindfulness, control of breath (pranayama) can lead to better understanding of the nature of the mind, better health, stress management, calmness and muscle relaxation in other words, transformation of the body.