"Kālakūṭa"
"Kālakūṭa"is named after a world-destroying poison of Hindu Mythology. In a myth regarding the procession of the equinoxes, dubbed the "Churning of the Milky Ocean," the forces of light and darkness, in their quest for the elixir of immortality also create "Kālakūṭa" - a deadly poison that begins to choke off the various asuras and devas. In the end, It is Shiva and his bull Nandi (pictured as a holographic overlay over taurus) who drink the poison before a single drop can reach the planet, saving day. I am using this myth to speak allegorically of the approaching the Taurid meteor stream, which enters earth's atmosphere above Taurus twice a year. Recent science has revealed a 20km meteor traveling in a cloud of meteors ranging everywhere from from 1-6 miles wide within the meter stream. Around 2030, earth will be passing through this potentially world-destroying meteoric cloud. Shiva watches over the collision course in this painting, the big question is whether he will work through us as the savior and protector of earthly life, or through another cosmic cycle of destruction will he make way for transformation and the arising of something new? Would human beings survive? I'm sure, but what would we lose considering all that was lost 12,600 years ago, the last time these meteors scourged the face of our planet, ending the last ice age almost overnight at the exact date Plato gives for the flooding of Atlantis. We stand at a crossroads regarding the fate of our planet, will we continue in our myopic and exploiting way of life fighting one another until the bitter end or will humanity choose to act as one in the preservation of life on earth? That is the question this painting asks. Which fate will we choose?
