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'The Empty Boat Is Flooded With Moonlight'

November 30, 2023

The Empty Boat Is Flooded With Moonlight

Now available here

(To whiz past all the wordage to the buying info, scroll down to the bottom of this page.)

This is a screen print and gold leaf version of a mirrored glass piece I made a few years ago that you can see here.

I've long been meaning to release this one as a screen print, as I had the proofs made up at the time of making the glass piece, and really loved them. Other things got in the way, so it's taken until now to get to the point where I've had an edition made up, and here we are.

It's also come to fruition at quite an apt time for me, as I am about to enter into major surgery next week, and there's been much consideration of death and existence in general in the last few months. I've really loved having this skull looking over me in my studio, with its moon-eye, surrounded by the gold, which changes and flames differently with changes in the light.

The title itself comes from a poem from 13th Zen Master Dogen, from his giant work The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye:

Midnight,

No waves, no wind

The empty boat is flooded with moonlight.

In Buddhist philosophy, the moon is a poetic symbol representing ultimate truth, encapsulated in the wisdom of not confusing the finger pointing at the moon with the moon itself. This metaphor encourages seekers to directly grasp the essence of truth, cautioning against mistaking the moon's reflection in numerous waters for the sublime reality it signifies, urging a discerning gaze beyond mere appearances...

It's also one of the few times when I've had a print edition arrive and have actually done a little gasp upon opening it. It looks badass and has a good strong presence on the wall. I'm having one of these framed up for my bedroom.

The smoke behind the skull is 24 carat gold, and was quite painstakingly put together from pieces of various plates of Gustave Doré's engravings for Dante's Inferno, and the skull itself is screen printed from a collage I made from various sources.

This one took a lot of work and time, and I'm totally delighted with it.

There's only 33 of them, and with such a small edition we've decided to set out the dynamic pricing structure that applies to all of my work as they sell, clearly from the outset this time, as seen below.

This will be the last release of 2023, as I go into surgery and then recovery for a month or two after.

Thanks, as ever, for taking an interest in what I do and for supporting me.

All love

Dan X

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The Empty Boat Is Flooded With Moonlight

Screen print with 24 carat gold leaf

57cm x 58cm

On 410gsm heavyweight tub-sized paper with one deckled edge.

Limited edition of 33, signed and numbered

Cost:

1 - 11: £850