Yin and yang are always on the plate of life.
Yin and yang are always on the plate of life.
Often the first taste of another culture is through its food or music or fashion, something like “hello.” But people who find a way of crossing cultures—stepping inside the culture’s traditions, language, history, attitudes, and beliefs—are forever changed by the experience.
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Yin and yang are always on the plate of life.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n
Often the first taste of another culture is through its food or music or fashion, something like “hello.” But people who find a way of crossing cultures—stepping inside the culture’s traditions, language, history, attitudes, and beliefs—are forever changed by the experience.<\/p>\n
In the Taoist yin<\/em>–yang<\/em> symbol:<\/p>\n In much the same way, two cultures can seem to be opposites and yet make up the indivisible whole of a person who has embraced both.<\/p>\n Born in France and a doctor by profession, Fran\u00e7oise Ben Arous<\/a> understands the influence and creative inspiration of different cultures.<\/p>\n Though she has traveled worldwide, it was a\u00a0trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, a few years ago, that became her turning point, a compelling OIC moment<\/strong>. According to Romanian artists Eduard Andrei:<\/p>\n “She then began an initiatory journey to find her true self, as a person and as an artist, by exploring profound Asia, whose culture she felt as an integral part of her spiritual identity.”<\/em><\/p>\n Arous’ work, a mix of her Western heritage and Eastern Zen philosophy, is represented by the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery<\/a>\u00a0and offers a view into the beauty of cross-cultural art.<\/p>\n “Grand Tressage High,” collage \u00a9 Fran\u00e7oise Ben Arous. The works are collages with a sculptural feel. They are created from joss paper<\/a>, which itself is a coarse paper handmade from bamboo and containing a thin layer of metal in gold or silver.<\/p>\n Joss papers with gold foil (left) and with silver foil (right) In some Asian cultures, joss paper is burned during\u00a0ancestor worship<\/a>, a ritual reflecting the concept of the family as a close unit of living and dead relatives. Joss paper is known as\u00a0jin\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0yin.<\/em><\/p>\n Joss paper is burned as an offering at funerals, on special holidays, and\u00a0throughout the year at shrines in family homes.<\/p>\n After discovering the origin of joss paper on her first trip to Hanoi, Arous returned often to find the best quality paper for her artistic creations, and it became the favored medium for her collages.<\/p>\n She was attracted by the pictorial quality of the paper. She cuts it into geometric shapes and attaches it to board or canvas, creating abstract 3-D compositions, described by Eduard Andrei, as “sometimes evoking urban or geometric structures.”<\/p>\n “Indigo 1 High,” joss paper collage with colored accents In some compositions, Arous keeps to a monochromatic harmony in gold or silver. In others, she may enhance the papers by adding color accents of acrylic or watercolor and textures achieved through thin incisions.<\/p>\n “Chandigarh,” joss paper collage whose wavy high relief Despite the association of joss paper with the deceased, Arous’ works convey a joy of living. The metal sheets capture and reflect light in ways that change with the time of the day or the vantage point of the viewer.<\/p>\n Luminosity and movement characterize her works, which Andrei calls “jewel-like.” He continues:<\/p>\n “Fran\u00e7oise’s works thus call to mind the aesthetic of the Japanese prints\u00a0<\/em>Ukiyo-e (literally images of the floating world) and of Impressionism.”<\/em><\/p>\n From the West, Arous also cites Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and the Art Deco period as influences on her work. Clearly, East and West—two energies, both powerful like yin<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0yang—<\/em>meet\u00a0in her work,\u00a0and the result is a richness of creative expression attained by crossing cultures.<\/p>\n Oh, I see<\/strong>—as it is in art, it is in life that two cultures shared are a remarkable inspiration.<\/p>\n Yin and yang<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n For those interested in knowing more about the world’s cultures<\/a>, visit The Nations Online Project, where you can click a country on an image of the planet and begin your discovery on the “ten-thousand dimensional net covering heaven and earth,” the\u00a0Chinese\u00a0name for the internet.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0Qingming Festival<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, occurs annually on a day between April 4 and 6. On this day, some Chinese people around the world sweep the tombs of their ancestors, offer food and flowers, and burn joss paper. See pictures\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
One Artist’s Quest<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Collage](\"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Grand-Tressage-High-1024x660.jpg\")
Arous’ signature, a seal like those on traditional Japanese and Chinese paintings, shows her attachment to Asian culture.<\/p><\/div>\nCultural Discovery<\/h4>\n
![\"Joss](\"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JossPaper.jpg\")
photographs CC courtesy, Kanashimi<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\n
From Cultural Discovery to Creative Expression<\/h4>\n
![\"Collage](\"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Indigo-1-High.jpg\")
<\/a>
\u00a9 Fran\u00e7oise Ben Arous<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Collage](\"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/CHANDIGARH-e1364348030544.jpg\")
connotes fluidity of movement
\u00a9 Fran\u00e7oise Ben Arous<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Yin-yang](\"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/162603533small-150x150.jpg\")