Rosie Jackson - Schlangensymbol - Acryl - Radierungen - www.rosiejackson.de
Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A
Reality - Panel A - The Search for Freedom

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A, Whole View

The Search for Freedom

Rosie Jackson 2007
Acrylics on canvas, 100 x 120 cm

Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A - Detail 1
Reality - Panel A - Detail 1

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A, Detail 1

This detail shows Global Villagers from the crowded Far East and the destruction of the environment. The Indonesian Global Villager is constructing his own prison by felling trees, thus restricting his hunting grounds and livelihood.

The Chinese river, through which the self-steer-ship sails, is polluted by rubbish. Our “freedom” to exploit the world's resources for our own use is backfiring against us, symbolised by the piles of newspapers and toilet roles (centre) for which our forests are being decimated.

The nets symbolise rigid behavioural structures and systems, and the tiny figures caught inside them believe that they are trapped and helpless.

Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A - Detail 2
Reality - Panel A - Detail 2

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A , Detail 2

Are we free?

The largest feature on Panel A is this huge stone Buddha, carved into the rock at Leshan in China. The Buddha suggested that our experience of freedom is determined by ourselves – that it is our minds which create the world we see, and the cages we find ourselves in.

In comparison with other religions with absolute rules and limited views which have no intention of freeing the mind, Buddhism itself is tolerant and “free” in that it openly welcomes new deities.

Elsewhere on this panel are a number of Global Villagers who seem to be enclosed, misplaced or isolated, but who eventually and often painfully realise that they – and their soul agendas – play a significant role in their “fate”.

Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A - Detail 3
Reality - Panel A - Detail 3

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A , Detail 3

In the painting THE WORLD – REALITY, animals in general are portrayed as being “not free”: they are either deformed, dead or in hiding, having lost trust in humankind which is destroying their habitat. Some are caged and barely visible, as at the bottom of this detail.

Apart from birds, capable of flying in any direction at a moment's notice, snails are the only really “free” animals shown. This mirror-snail shows us the value of meditative slowness. As hermaphrodites, complete and independent in themselves, they are a symbol of inner freedom and peace.

Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A - Detail 4
Reality - Panel A  - Detail 4

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A, Detail 4

This is one of the few areas in the painting THE WORLD – REALITY where nature is allowed to flourish without the intervention of mankind. This detail shows the wild jungle beauty of southern China, but even here there is a small figure climbing through the undergrowth – an indication that this unspoilt area will soon be populated and exploited.

Canvas Sketch - The Spiritual Revolution Project - Reality - Tableau A - Detail 5
Reality - Panel A - Detail 5

THE WORLD – REALITY
Panel A, Detail 5

Global Villager 17: A 12 year old girl from Beijing, China, gazing at an impossible phenomenon - a marble ship which looks as if it is floating on the lake in the grounds of the Summer Palace

Global Villager 74: A 5 year old orphan from Angola, Africa, turning her eyes heavenwards towards her dead mother who is floating above her in a black bubble

Global Villager 18: A catholic man from Wuhan, China, rubbing his hands over a stove, regretting the years he lost in a labour camp due to his religious zeal

Global Villager 15: An old muslim woman from Wuhan, China, sewing shoe insoles to sell at market, simultaneously grumbling about her uncaring family

Global Villager 70: A drunk man from the Ukraine, emigrated to Germany, clutching his official papers in the conviction he is the victim of discrimination