Vision

"Nesting Shell of Egocentric Impulses" -- Within the egg nest (levels of consciousness), the pair resides in the red-blue development sequence of amoral impulsivity while seeking restraint as mundane persons (male and female) wanting a saintly expression.

Acrylic on canvas 20x16 inches

In the words of Chogyam Trungpa, "appreciate the resourcefulness of human existence, which we call basic goodness. By finding the link between past and present existence, NOWNESS, in the magic of the present moment, is what joins the wisdom of the past and present. When you appreciate art, no matter when it was created, you appreciate it NOW. You experience the same NOWNESS in which it was created. It is always NOW."

Welcome to

the Transpersonal Art

of Armida Nagy Stickney

You may be asking, "what is transpersonal art?' There are several definitions. Basically, when the artist expresses his or her experiential moment, he or she feel connected to both the inner and outward awareness of the present and explores the relationship between creativity and self-exploration.

In the poetic language of William Blake, it's goal is to realize that "if the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear..as it is, infinite."

In the words of Avatar Adi Da, the necessary essence of transpersonal art is love. where the artist is a sacred performer to "do the magic that causes others to participate in conditional reality in a sacred sense, or the sense of love, in the sense of self-transcendence, in the sense of ecstasy."

In a global context, the person who observes and the observed (i.e., a painting) cannot be seen as separate. There is an interaction that shapes the senses through projections, concepts, and habits.

In the words ascribed the Buddha, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, it is said,

There is neither a painting in the mind

Nor a mind in the painting;

And yet, where else can one find a painting

than in the mind?"

The Man with the Blue Guitar

Acrylic on canvas 2008

40x30 inches

Inspired by Wallace Steven poem of the same title (1936):

"The man bent over his guitar,

A shears man of sorts. The day was green.

They said, "You have a blue guitar,

You do not play things as they are."

The man replied, "Things as they are

Are changed upon the blue guitar."

And they said to him, "But play, you

must,

A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,

A tune upon the blue guitar,

Of things exactly as they are.

"...I sing a hero's head, large eye, but not a man,

Although I patch him as I can...

Say that it is the serenade

Of a man that plays a blue guitar,,,,

"...Placed, so, beyond the compass of

change,

Perceived in a final atmosphere;

For a moment final, in the way

The thinking of art seems final when

The thinking of god is smoky dew.

The tune is space....a composing of

senses of the guitar...."

"Spirit Mother & Child Looking South"

"This painting is not without controversy. On the same day that someone told me she was offended by it because it made a pro-life statement, another young woman told me it would make a perfect slogan for the 'Right-to-Life' movement. Neither one was told that they were off mark because, after all, perception is the property of the perceiver. In that respect, they were both right. However, from my artistic bent, this painting portrays my vision of the Native American Medicine Wheel. As the element of air, the Spirit Keeper of the East is te Golden Eagle who represents all new beginnings and promises the dawn. As Spirit Mother who looks to the South, she has the ability to see far and cler, like an eagle. From her vantage, she can see a broad perspective as she and her child-to-be start a new life. It's all about life, but it is also about choice."--Armida

"Mother of Patience and Change"

Acrylic on Canvas

Often a mother asks, "why more pain

and suffering?"

This painting is about the primal mother & child. The mother is the fullness of the universe. The child is humanity. As primal mother, she is not a passive receptacle but a dynamic cauldron where life is drawn, gestated, and birthed.

The red ribbon represents the suspension of her menses. The juvenile swallow represents the gentle and intelligent nature of the primal mother.

The 9 phases of the moon is the gestation period. The 8-pointed star on the directional platter at her feet represents the connection between

earth and heaven (the 8-pointed star alone is Venus--fertility). The primal mother not only holds a child but is soon to birth another child of humanity (she's forever pregnant).

The gesture of her feet--one holding and the other releasing--is the constant dance of being still and letting go, of constantly attempting to achieve the balance of releasing and holding.