Tibetan mantra
Graphics (Relief, Linoleum): A tibetan mantra (paraphrase). Tibetans please bear with me:
Untitled (paraphrase). Linoleum cut. 2018. ~ DIN A5 size
Read on for close-up and ghost print
This mantra was found on a hand-made Tibetan calendar I got as a gift a few years back. The whole calendar was made from hand-coloured prints. I have to admit that unfortunately I do not read Tibetan letters, so I can't tell which mantra it is. This fact made me postpone the creation of this print for a few years, in fact I almost gave up making it.
However, it turned out that the shapes and the overall aestetics were interesting enough to merit a paraphrase in spite of my ignorance. I do not hope that I have made errors, if so I am sorry. I do not know people fluent in Tibetan letters, so I had to try my best.
Please don't see this as "cultural appropriation" - I have no such intent. Alhough I do not understand the lettering or the Tibetan language I do understand quite a few "graphical languages", and I always try to learn more. The overall graphical composition of this mantra is based on certain elements used throughout many cultures, including my own as well as that which is sometimes referred to as "nature" or "IRL". I had a suspicion that this was the case from just looking at the mantra but constructing the mantra made me know that it was so - this difference is significant. For this discovery no written or spoken language is necessary; which merits the thought that we may perhaps all share a common underlying (non-verbal) language -- or at least we may percieve certain things quite similarly across different cultures and regions. All in all this is an act of learning, not one of appropriation.
close up of leftmost print from photo above
ghost print
If you know which mantra this is, and/or if you can transscribe it to latin letters, please leave a comment below.
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