The Goddesses of Kings Row Paintings of Social Resistance & Divine Understanding Copyright 2009 Charles Wish
"Know yourself, love yourself… be yourself." -- Anonymous wall graffiti, Sepulveda Basin, CA. circa 1993.
One of the things I love most about South-Asian thought is its hierarchy of priorities. Name and fame, riches and beauty, these all make the list, but what trumps them all in the end is the act of realization. That “Ah Ha” moment which Bruce Nauman so ambiguously referenced way back in 1975.
As a matter of fact, the act of realization holds such a high place in Hindu culture that there is whole set (ten to be exact) of goddesses who represent the importance of this event. These goddesses are known as the Maha-vidyas.[1]
As most of know the act of realization is not always a painless one. And though some of these goddesses are depicted as innocent and alluring, most of them possess extremely wrathful and terrifying qualities. However, their fury should not be interpreted as ordinary anger, but rather as wisdom-anger. Or (more specifically) anger which scares away ignorance. It is their purpose to make sure we mortals realize that which we need to know in order to be truly free and alive, even if it means being forced out of our immediate comfort zones. [2]
The story of how the Mahavidyas came to be is not a short one by any means and has a wide cast of characters including: Shiva (the Hindu God of generation & destruction), Sati (Shiva’s wife) and Daksha (Sati’s father). However, for our purposes here I will try to keep things brief:
Once Upon a Time, Sati’s dad (Daksha) decides to throw a big party and invites all of high-society. However, he intentionally leaves his own daughter (Sati) and Shiva (Sati’s husband) off the invitation list. Daksha does not like his son-in-law and is still resentful that his daughter chose to marry him. This is partly because of Shiva’s disheveled appearance, rambunctious ways and the uncivilized company he keeps. But moreover, it’s because Shiva is much more popular, well respected and feared than Daksha ever will be -- a fact which Daksha is well aware of and very envious about.
However, in a rare display of form Shiva is not offended by this social slight. Rather, it is Sati who is furious with her father and announces to Shiva that she will go to the party and disrupt it by publically displaying her free and wild side. Shiva is not sympathetic and continues to pressure Sati by forbidding her to attend. Being leaned on by both her father and her husband proves to be too much for Sati and, in a Sammy Davis Jr., “I’ve Got to Be Me.” like moment, she transforms into her ferocious form and then emanates from herself ten fearsome, alluring and dynamic goddesses. Swiftly overpowering Shiva with the prowess of her counterparts, Sati breaks free and makes off to the party while the Maha-vidyas hold her husband in check. Yet when Sati arrives at the party, still in her ferocious wild form, she is unrecognized and ridiculed by everyone including her own father. This existential challenge proves too much for her and she decides to end her life by publicly jumping into a blazing fire-pit right in the middle of her father’s get-together. Meanwhile back at home and still in the company of the ten Maha-vidyas, Shiva realizes the error of his ways and vows to attend his father-in-law’s party to defend the honor of his wife. Of course he arrives too late, only to find his wife has already burned to death. In a fit of rage Shiva picks up the corpse of his bride and begins a rampage which includes ripping the head off his father-in-law and replacing it with that of goat.
Terrified of Shiva, and with no end of his destruction in sight, everyone in town organizes an emergency meeting to decide on how to halt his tantrum. Since no one at this meeting felt qualified to challenge him, and since Sati is apparently dead, the Nobles adopt to call upon the Mayavidyas as a last ditch option to quell Shiva’s rage.
Answering this call, Shiva once again finds himself in the company of these ten goddesses and swiftly stops his destructive dance to ponder the folly of the situation. Wishing whole heartedly that he and Daksha had simply let Sati be herself, Shiva hands his wife’s remains over to the Maha-vidyas who return the favor by dividing Sati’s body into ten separate pieces and then dispersing them over numerous areas of the earth -- to help ease Shiva’s suffering by destroying his wife’s more recognizable form. [3]
The reason I’m sharing all of this with you is because the six paintings that accompany this statement just happen to feature some of these Mahavidyas. It is a series of paintings which I’m calling: “The Goddesses of Kings Row.”
The formula behind the bulk of these paintings was to pair liberal likenesses of five of the ten Mahavidyas with narrative imagery meant to recall actual events of social pressure from American history -- as a demonstration of the universal nature of social leaning and the necessity to honestly face and manage this sticky phenomenon.
The story of the Mahavidyas’ origins is undeniably one of social pressure. And, it's also a story that bears contextual likenesses to the social situations in the 1940 American novel: "Kings Row." [4] Given these similarities, as well as the whole bi-cultural aspect of this series, I felt this title appropriate.
Wherever (or whenever) you come from, I believe most of us would agree that navigating social situations can often be tedious. Although, the aim here isn't to imply that social circles don't have their positive points. On the contrary, this series of paintings is just as much about positive acceptance-based cooperation as it is about individualistic resistance. Yet, if one pays attention to the undertones of the two stories referenced here, I believe one cannot help but find the most outstanding moral parallel to be this: No matter how difficult the road ahead may seem, giving in to the demands of social pressures -- by trying to avoid them or (even worse) by letting them persuade us into being something we are not -will only increase the strife.
In this sense the Mahavidyas have always been here in America (or anywhere else for that matter) defending those who have the courage to stare conformity in the face, and providing realization for those who have fallen into the bottomless pit of compromise. For if freedom and sanctuary are the ends then Parris should be trusted to decide what's right for himself. [5]
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Painting Titles & Descriptions:
The first four pieces in this series express situations of marginalized persons from American history, persons who stood true to themselves in the face of society’s pull often to the forbearance of crippling consequences. They feature the contrasts of the four seasons (each painted in 2009 during the corresponding time of year) to symbolize the vicissitude, persistence and unavoidability of social mechanics. There are wasps, to symbolize the pestilence of this phenomenon, and moths (in pupa, caterpillar and full form) to symbolize existential freedom in the light of conflicting social trends. There are also televisions featured throughout, to draw attention to the vicarious multifaceted persistence of social pressure by assorted media. Finally, I’ve included cakes which represent the tradition of Prasad, an offering to the deity which in turn becomes an offering for us all.
The first four are titled:
1) The Denial of Winter, Dasa Dhumavati & The Deposing of Alisha Owen. 2) The Nuisance of Spring, Dasa Tara & The Marketing of Don Vliet. 3) The Destruction of Summer, Dasa Kali & The Eviction of Aurora Vargas. 4) The Disregard of Fall, Dasa Bhairavi & The Conformance of Geronimo.
The following piece in this series utilizes all the same symbolism, but moves from the exterior world to one of an intra-psychic interior, basically showing how bad the mental confines of social pressure can get. This piece is titled:
5) Ontological Insecurity, Sati’s Combustion and the Frustration of Karthik Rajaram.
The sixth (and final) piece in this series returns to an exterior world where the soldiers of social pressure have found the freedom and wherewithal to be themselves. This painting is meant to tie all the paintings together as a single offering for all who have ever felt challenged by society and is titled:
6) Season Number Five, Dasa Chinnamasta, & The Consecration of The Outsiders.
To learn even more about the situations depicted in these paintings please see the conceptual descriptions accompanying their titles on the galleries page.
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[1] “Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Religions,” Bowker, Oxford University Press, 2000, page: 352. Mahavidyas (Sanskrit: great + divine-realization) Ten Hindu goddesses who represent ten forms of transcendental realization/knowledge and tantric power. Aspectual emanations of Devi (the feminine half of Brahman) they are as follows: 1) Kali,2) Tara3) Sodasi (sixteen, the number of perfection and cosmic totality) 4) Bhukaneshvari (realization of the merits and snares of the material world) 5) Bhairavi (realization of the infinite variety of desires and death) 6) Chinnamasta (realization of the eternal night, depicted drinking blood from her own self severed head) 7) Dhumavati (realization of the destruction of the cosmos, when only smoke remains) 8) Bagala (realization of the weight of negative emotional forces, hate, jealousy, etc.) 9) Matangi (power and dominion) 10) Kamala (the girl of the lotus and right consciousness). [2,3] “Hindu Goddesses,” Kinsley, University of California Press/Berkley/Los Angeles, 1997, page: 162. “Bhagavata-Purana,” medieval Hindu mythology, circa 3rd century CE. “Guhyatiguhya-Tantra,” Tantric scripture, circa 8th century CE. [4] This refers to the triangular situation centered around the characters: Dr.Henry Gordon, Louise Gordon, & Drake McHugh, from the novel: “Kings Row,” 1940, Kingdom House Publishing. [5] This declaration is in reference to a climactic scene from the film: “Kings Row,” wherein Parris, the protagonist, is challenged to cast aside social pressure and manifest his resolutions for himself.
