Dreaming Butterfly

#83007     111.8 X 147.3 cm     ac

• Postcard photo of Marilyn Monroe “Buddha as Medicine”; the esoteric Yakushi Nyorai
• Raphael: “Sistien Madonna”, Dresden, Gemaldefalerie.

The Taoist saint Chuang-tze once fell asleep and dreamt that he became a butterfly. Hovering from one flower to the other he enjoyed the freedom of a butterfly. Suddenly he woke up and was upset by his weight and the dullness of being a man. Chuang-tze then wondered whether he was dreaming to be a butterfly, or a butterfly was dreaming of being Chuang-tze.

In this painting Chen doubled the image of “Marilyn Monroe Dancing” beside a meditative Buddha. Sharp is the contrast of the East, the meditative, the inward, to the West, the outgoing, and the explosive. The combination of these two side might make butterfly hover happily.

by Lawrance Jeppson