Henjo Kongo Daishi
2025
73” x 87”
Acrylic marker, spray paint, and ink on canvas
This piece portrays a life-sized figure seated in meditation that challenges the viewer to see a holy image (illustration of Kūkai, posthumously known as Henjo Kongo Daishi, founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism) as non-separate from a painted surface that evokes a vandalized urban wall. By utilizing spray paint and ink to create shapes that seem as though they have been hastily covered up, numerous additional faces may appear to the viewer in the resulting design. Taken as a whole, the painting raises the question as to whether the shapes and faces on the wall profane the sacred image of Kūkai or if Kūkai's face sacralizes the profane, given that each are ultimately not-two.