This video features artist Brandon Sadler's live creation of The Path at FQM, showcased in the exhibition Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West. The artwork, The Path of Totality, exemplifies Sadler's unique approach to ink art.
In this expansive ink painting on canvas, which Brandon Sadler created in the gallery space prior to the opening of this exhibition, he went in a direction that could showcase his design abilities, brushwork, and text, while also aligning with the concept of the exhibition. For Sadler, the tiger and the dragon symbolize the East and West, respectively. These iconic East Asian images, whether depicted alone or in battle, serve as popular entry points for Westerners.
This year, being the Year of the Dragon, coupled with the recent solar eclipse – referred to in Chinese mythology as an invisible dragon devouring the sun – adds a significant layer of meaning to the work. The painting features a tiger drinking from the river, its attention captivated by the invisible dragon (the solar eclipse). He intentionally left out the negative space to form the title “The Path of Totality.” In the negative space to the left of the image, Sadler’s brush calligraphy spells out the below poem “Daydream in Blue.”
Daydream in Blue (written by Kïa Tavernier):
The divine duet in two acts:
I.
Impetuous heart –
hasty to revolution,
a violent rhythm
tumbling down on the rocks.
II.
Mind, its battle-worn comrade, –
charged with vérité
(who shakes in the dark
who begs for correction
who suffers the burden of time
who braces against the draw of the tide)
governed by the moon,
with gravity and memory
and consequence upon her back,
pressing on towards unknowable shores.
-
Brandon Sadler
The Path of Totality, 2024
Waterproofed ink on canvas
65 x 120 in; 165.1 x 304.8 cm
