The Chakrids have surfaced once more. While getting material together to submit this installation and show to a gallery, I’m struck by how much I love this piece and what it represents. Energy. Flow. The harmonic balance in color. I recall the yoga practice based on the chakras we did that one morning at Spacepop. Honestly, I was a different person after the class. Quite emotional too, to practice surrounded by my work. May we all have that experience.
Note to self. Surround yourself with your work. Don’t leave it stored and wrapped in the studio. Get it out. Fill your house. My house. Anyplace where people gather. They will thank you after and feel like a new person.
Here is some of the material I used for the show at Spacepop last year.
Francesca
The Chakrids (Chakra + Grids!)
I believe in the power of color to change lives. I have given away all my black clothes. I never use black paint. I have drifted from draining people. I’ve cleaned the clutter from the house. I’ve dusted off the mulhas and upped the Shine!
So it was with great joy last year when I accepted a request to donate a small painting to Project Color Corps for their annual fundraiser. Orange leapt from my lips. One small painting turned into four and more. To choose one I painted many. Ten paintings later I had the one and the seed idea for what was to come. How lucky to have chosen Orange, the Chakra color of creativity and pleasure. I was in heaven. I didn’t realize the effect it would have on my emotions, taste in music or daily rituals. One simple gesture turned into an eight-month quest to experience color.
Invitation
It’s now your turn. There is no order, right or wrong way to experience the exhibit. Instead, enter and stand for a moment. Feel. Breathe. Look around. What color is drawing you in? Go there and stay for a bit. Let the color push on you. What might be going on in your life that attracted you to that color? Let the mind wander. Take note of what passes through your mind. When your breath has stabilized move on to a new color. Reflect once more.
When you are ready to leave the show, stand once more and check in with your body. How are you feeling? Where is there more ease? What has been dislodged? Where was the energy leaking? What might you do differently this week? Expand this moment. In this space we reside.
Gratitude
Thank you for being a part of the tapestry.
Chakra Intro: The body is an energetic system and energy whirls around us and within us. I always visualize clothes in the dryer. When each piece is perfectly placed, with just the right amount of weight, the spin creates a brilliant energy. If one piece is out of place, the energy gets pulled and distorted. The machine wobbles around the floor. Jerking. Unstable. Erratic. Our Chakras operate in the same way. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning “a wheel” or “a disk.” When our chakras spin smoothly we are a shining, breathing and loving force. We are in alignment with the Universe. Grounded, expanding and connecting. Otherwise, we wobble too.
Color is a wave traveling through space. The wavelength is the space between the peaks. The Chakras vibrate at a certain frequency, in a logical order of seven vibrations. (7 colors) As we move from root (red) to crown (violet) the wavelengths shorten and the frequency increases. Low vibe to high vibe…
Root Chakra: Base of the spine (Muladhara)
RED
“I have.” “I am here.”
Qualities: Grounded. Solid. Secure. Connected to the adrenal gland.
Sound: LAM
Pose: Warrior I
“Root to Rise”
“Where is energy leaking?”
Sacral Chakra: Pelvic Region (Svadhisthana)
ORANGE
“I feel”
Qualities: Feelings, sexuality, passion, vitality. Connected to testes, ovaries, and womb.
Sound: VAM
Pose: Bound Angle Pose
“Mixture between pleasure and pain is the perfect place for development.”
Samba, samba, samba
Solar Plexus (Navel) Chakra: (Manipura)
YELLOW
“I can.”
Qualities: Confidence. Self esteem. Ego. Willpower. But feelings.
Sound: RAM
Pose: Boat Pose
“Twist, wring it out.”
Heart Chakra: (Anahata)
GREEN
“I love.”
Qualities: Love, kindness, harmonious relationships. Connected to thymus, lungs and immune system.
The center chakra merges the lower and upper bodies.
Sound: YAM
Pose: Camel Pose
“Choose out of Love. Do out of Love always.”
“I am here for you.”
Sounds of the studio. Birdsong from the garden. Sunrays through the skylights.
Throat Chakra: (Vishudha)
BLUE
“I speak.”
Qualities: Communication. Self-expression. Creativity. Connect hypothalamus and thyroid.
Sound: HAM
Pose: Fish Pose
“Stand up and speak out.”
“Can you ask for what you want, freely?”
“A ‘no’ protects what is good and vulnerable. A little fence to protect what is to grow.”
Jazz, Bill Evans
Third Eye Chakra: (Ajna)
INDIGO
“I see.”
Qualities: Intuition. Third eye. Imagination. Dreaming. Pineal gland that produces melatonin.
Sound: AUM or OM
Pose: Child’s Pose
“Begin the path…and see it through…find your way back if lost…”
“See with soft eyes.”
Miles and Monk. Cool. Aloof.
Crown Chakra: (Sahasrara)
VIOLET
“I know.”
Qualities: Bliss. Spiritual Awareness. Wisdom. Pituary- top of head
Gateway to universal consciousness.
Sound: NG
Pose: Headstand
“Take the high road.”
