Amanda Marko

Inspiration and Purpose

Creating art is meditative. Experiencing art is meditative. My paintings are the intersection of my interests in living a yoga lifestyle and encouraging creativity.

The technique of cold wax medium for oil painting transforms the painting with each layer; it is truly an exercise in the Zen practice of non-attachment. Mantras focus me and thus become energetically embedded into the paintings in the Mantra Series. The mantra is written, scratched, imprinted, scribbled, and collaged onto each layer, just as mantras are layered into the person using them.

In the Mantra Series, color blocks are containers for the mind to explore; there are boundaries, yet the interplay between the colors magnify the positive and negative space, providing contrast for insight.

Rich, bold colors amplify the mantra, while metallic and iridescent materials represent the treasures waiting to be uncovered during quiet contemplation.

The Rock Garden series shares the same purpose of encouraging meditation.

Rock gardens provide a tranquil setting for self-discovery. Paintings in the Rock Garden series contain paper rocks derived from imprints of lower layers of the painting and brought to the surface, a reference to ...