May 30, 2009

Dharma

I got a thing with dharma dolls (darma, daruma). They're limbless figures, made from papier maché.
People buy them to fulfil a wish (often for success in business or to pass exams). They come with
eyes without pupils, and when you make a wish, you fill in his left eye (on your right). When your wish 
is granted, you fill in the other.
For some reason I got really fascinated with dharma's, maybe because of their simple shape.
My dharma matruschka dolls from Miyajima.
My little dharma altar. (Yes, of course dharma dolls also exist in Hello Kitty form!)
The red ones are waiting for me to get married and to be invited for an art project in Japan.
The white one is a special dharma for diseases, so I wait with filling in the eye until I get
really sick and need his support. >_< 
Actually I'm not a religious person at all, but dharma's are my personal good luck charms.

I also tend to draw myself as a dharma, don't really know why.
Here are some drawings from my sketchbook and one on a plate.
They were also inspired by old Japanese houses and gardens.
(and there's the cup of tea again, it also looks like a dharma doll!)

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