Day 115- Khmer adorant


January 2, 2019

Gallery 249 centers on Khmer statues of bronze, copper alloy, and stone from the 9th through the 11th centuries. They include representations of Buddha and bodhisattvas, Shiva and other Hindu gods, kings and queens, and guardian figures. That said, one of the most striking works is a large hanging rattan piece made by a contemporary Cambodian sculptor who was born in 1971.  The woven portion of the rattan  depicts what is recognizably a human figure, with a defined head and torso; beneath this,  the rattan strips hang shapelessly. The topknot on the figure's head makes him further identifiable as Buddha. The ends of some of the rattan strips have been dipped in red dye. The artist, notes the placard, was inspired to make the work by his childhood memories of a Buddhist temple during the time of the Khmer Rouge. The temple's statues of Buddha were crushed, its walls and floor were stained with blood.  

Today's object, however, is peaceful, even rapturous. Perhaps 14 inches tall and made in the second half of the 11th century of bronze inlaid with silver and traces of gold, it shows a female worshipper ("likely a Khmer queen," according to the caption). The figure kneels on one knee. She wears a finely pleated sarong tied around her waist, along with necklaces, armbands, and bracelets. She seems to be bald, although maybe her hair is finely plaited. What is most distinctive is that her arms are upraised, with palms touching above her head, so that her face is framed within this diamond shape. Her eyes are open (and I read that they may originally have been inlaid with black glass), but she seems to look beyond us into a world we cannot see.  

Even though she is in a still position, she is so graceful that my first impression is of a dancer.  I think it's her slim body and those arms.

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