Tsherin Sherpa (b. 1968, Kathmandu; lives and works in San Francisco)

PROTECTOR, 2013

Gold leaf, acrylic, and ink on canvas

Promised gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin Private Collection

C2013.213

The journey toward awakening or enlightenment is an unfolding process of recognition, involving the gradual discernment of patterns within the disorder of everyday experience. By analogy, this painting’s swirl of vibrant colors will soon take shape. At the center is an enlightened being who has obtained awakening, or in other words, attained an understanding of how all of reality works. We still cannot quite see the deity in the painting, save for a clearly indicated center and a sense of direction, which positions us in a place between our world and the world we aspire to understand.

Tsherin Sherpa, an artist trained in Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings known as thangkas, incorporates Buddhist iconography and beliefs into his paintings and sculptures. Sherpa founded the Himalayan ART Initiative in Kathmandu, Nepal, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and preserve traditional Himalayan art and culture.

A limited-edition print of this painting is available in the Rubin shop, with 50% of proceeds going to the Himalayan ART Initiative.

Limited-Edition Materials: Giclee print with archival inkjet colour on Hahnemuhle Fine Art paper, 305gsm

Specifications:

• Total edition: 100
• Each edition is signed and numbered
• Each print is individually gilded with gold leaf by the artist
• Height:18.5 inches
• Width:  21.5 inches
• Unframed

Made in: Handprinted and gilded in Nepal

Product Code: 1123456341

A 50% of the proceeds of this print supports the Himalayan Art Initiative in Kathmandu, Nepal