Concept Behind an Artwork “Samadhi”

An artist uses various symbolic visual objects to convey a story on canvas. However, viewers interpret and enjoy the artwork differently depending on their background.

Here we will try to analyze a digital artwork called “Samadhi”, which will help and encourage other artists to create conceptual artwork. At the same time, it will be intriguing for the audience to reveal the clues and the story behind this artwork.

The entire story in this artwork revolves around Kaivalya (Salvation), the last and the final leap of a human being.

This artwork is crated by Surinder Shanker Anand from Shanky Studio, www.ShankyStudio.com

Title : Samadhi

The Concept Behind This Artwork

1. Various symbolic visual elements such as trident, meditating girl, beach, spectator, spectator’s reflection on the water, mystical night, auspicious new moon, stars, and clouds in the sky have been used to structure the concept of this artwork.
2. The five elements of this universe are space, air, fire, water, and earth representing the sky, movement in clouds, light, and water on the beach respectively in the artwork.
3. In this artwork, green light is emitted from the Trident representing Divinity (Consciousness). The two colors of the Trident — green and black, respectively, represent the axiomatic principle, the Conscious element Shiva, and his indivisible material power, Shakti. The Trishul is situated right in the middle of the artwork, that is, the only source of the entire universe.
4. This Divinity i.e. all-pervading light is illuminating the girl, the people around, the moon, the stars, and the whole universe. The clouds in the sky are pointing to the girl, as if the whole universe is helping the girl, in her final attempt to realize herself. The openness of the sky and soft light represent the complete emptiness of the mind and the dawn of Self-awakening respectively.
5. The seeker girl represents the excellent qualities of the feminine mind such as intuitiveness, reverence, respect, devotion, surrender, acceptance, etc., which are the most conducive to spirituality.
6. The girl’s consciousness is drawn inwards, sitting in Padmasana and wisdom Mudra, is transforming from darkness to light, symbolizing her journey from ignorance to Self-realization.
7. The girl’s consciousness is absorbed into her inner-Self, and therefore there is no external reflection of the girl on the ground outside. In contrast, the spectator’s reflections are on the ground outside, meaning that their consciousness is engrossed and entangled in the gross matter of the external world. On the other hand, the ignorant people on the left side of the artwork are engrossed in their own darkness of ignorance and are unable to even see this divine phenomenon, which is happening to the girl.
8. According to ancient scripture Yoga Darshan (Sutra 3.3) by Maharishi Patanjali, the object which is meditated in the samadhi reveals its true knowledge, and at that time the meditator appears to be absent.
9. The inwards drawn girl is in Samadhi on the Self. The Self realizes the Self, with the help of Self, and gets established in the Self. This knowledge of the Self is known as enlightenment or the light of Self-knowledge, which is represented in the form of green light.

Implementation Of The Principle Of Design & Composition

1. From the point of view of design, objects are placed according to the Rule of Thirds. The face of the girl, torso, the face of the spectator, and the reflection of the spectator are placed on the cross-section of the grid.
2. The moon, the face of the girl, the trident, and the image of the spectator follow the diagonal line to control the eye movement of the viewer. The same applies to the face of the spectator, the trident, and the torso of the girl. Trishul is situated right in the middle of the artwork.
3. Four layers have been created in this artwork to show three-dimensional depth. The girl and the trident are on the first layer. The spectator and their reflection are on the second layer, and the others spectator in the dark area are on the third layer. The horizon and background are on the fourth layer.
4. The meditating girl is the main center of this artwork. Various visual elements have been used to bring the attention of the viewers back to girl-a. The girl has maximum contrast i.e. with electric blue on a black
   b. background, and with maximum detail.
   c. The girl is on the first layer.
   d. The audience is looking at the girl.
   e. All the clouds are pointing towards the girl.
   f. The girl’s face aligns with the upper left square of the Rule of Thirds.

Hope you liked this article and understood the deep concepts behind the artwork easily. For details please visit https://tinyurl.com/ArtworkSamadhi