The Lotus In The Mud

In this exhibit, Erika Radich returns to many of the beautiful, sacred places in Kathmandu that she visited before the earthquake of April 2015.  Witnessing the wounds and destruction in temples, houses, monuments, stupas, and people, she gives life to the idea of activating hope. The predominant ideas throughout the show are those of destruction and creation, the earth as a living organism in constant formation, the uncontrollable forces associated with that formation, and the reaction that moves toward balance, redemption, and human nobility.
 
“The visits were heart breaking and inspiring. The destruction felt brutal, uncompromising, and uncontrollable. The perceived fear among the people is palpable as the unknown is looming and threatening to an already deeply challenged community of survivors.  Then there was the spark that consistently inspired and humbled.  Near almost every heap of rubble, there was a grain of beauty: Flowers emerging, colorful flags, butter lamps, prayers chanted, prayer wheels turning, monkeys basking in the sun.”  
 
Radich’s work displays three distinct reference points regarding the earthquake: The intimate soil prints, created by burying the paper in the earth; Interpretations of the surface energy of moving earth; The viewpoint of moving tectonic plates from a distant - a skyward point of view.