Today's Holy-day Art Preview: Nirvana Day is Feb. 15

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Greg Disney

"Seeing Through Body [Mom]" by Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew

The Buddha spent the last forty years of his life preaching his faith and making vast numbers of converts. His passing is marked by man adherents on "Nirvana Day". In the earliest Buddhist art, the Buddha was not represented in human form. His presence was indicated instead by a sign, such as a pair of footprints, an empty seat, or an empty space beneath a parasol. In the first century A.D., the human image of one Buddha came to dominate the artistic scene. The contemporary artwork of Thai artist Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew (above) is used today as illustration of the journey taken by artists to explore conceptions of Buddhism.