It’s not easy to draw the universe. It’s impossible, really, not only for its vastness but all the blank spaces and gaps in understanding littered throughout it, a map that stretches infinitely with the roads fading in and out again. Mandalas, a symbol most commonly associated with Hinduism and Buddhism, is mankind’s archetypal approach to representing it as best it can. Elaborate patterns composed of intricate lines and a boundless color wheel, these vivid little images at least capture the infinite spirit of the cosmos and all the different forms it can take depending on your vantage point.
They are the subject of a new exhibition from William R. Struby that debuts from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday at DNA Galleries as part of the Plaza District‘s monthly Live on the Plaza event. Mandalas and Mysteries seeks to “explore the connections and space between the conscious and unconscious” and represent “a fuller consciousness — the circle of interconnected life and death.” The existential stories the mixed-media works aim to capture and translate are complex, but there’s an elevated beauty to his pieces even for those not keen on pondering what their place in the world is.
Struby was born in Manhattan but raised in Oklahoma City, eventually earning a B.F.A. at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The Oklahoma art scene fixture brings a needed sense of literal depth and dimension to the collage medium, the figures and mandalas respectively raised against the background, a trait you’ll have to see in person to appreciate. But for now, this flatscreen preview here will have to do:
To see more from Struby, visit his website or stop in at DNA Galleries this month.
