Flute Player on a Buffalo

Öl auf Zeitung Tribun Bali
Ausgabe 30. March 2018
Bali 5.04.2018


Lee Man Fong, a painter from china who came to Bali in 1945, was inspired by a 12th century cycle of parables, the Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures, a series of short poems and accompanying drawings to describe the stages of a practitioner's progress towards enlightenment and his or her return to society to enact wisdom and compassion.

Lee Man Fong painted his flute player on a buffalo influenced by the 6th poem, "Riding the bull home".

This version on the Tribun Bali newspaper is a new technique, white oil paint covering the whole surface then scratching it away with a pointed knife.

So it appears like a breath, temporary.

The painting is painted on the newspaper from the day I went to find the flute player on a buffalo where I also met Daniel Suwenda at his temple home where these figures are standing.