"Heart"

This series of sculptures is an attempt to integrate the East and West.

At the heart of creation dances the Lord of the Dance, who directs and undergoes the integration of all opposites, male and female, creation and destruction, crucifixion and resurrection. Out of this beating center, the material world takes birth. The central sculpture in the exhibition is called "The Nataraja," or "Lord of the Dance.” The dancing figure inside this sculpture is crucified and resurrected, male and female.

The four sculptures surrounding "The Nataraja" represent creation’s four-fold nature: the four directions, and the four seasons. Each is a human figure dancing inside a musical instrument. The dancers are inspired by the choreography of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. The sculptures of the four seasons are made of mixed media, but primarily one of four metals: gold, silver, bronze and steel. These four metals are associated with the Hindu understanding of time, which is divided into four ages, or yugas. There is the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Each age is a necessary season of growth for creation and for human beings striving towards their goal of union with God through love.