A young Tibetan talent withholds wonderful art from the Boston community.
By Michelle Hunter
Ngawang Jorden has a secret. In this Tibetan native's tiny apartment in Somerville are beautiful, contemporary paintings that not many people get to see.
When he was a teenager, Jorden left his regular education to follow his passion for art. He began to take classes in thangka painting, and though he wasn't sure where it would take him, he assumed he'd one day make a living from his talents.
Living in Tibet, Jorden would ride his bike 40 minutes to and from school just to learn the sacred art of thangka painting that monks have been using in monasteries since the 17th century.
Jorden painted thangka paintings for his brother, who is a monk in Tibet, and as commissioned art by prominent people in the community. But, to this day, he hasn't sold a single painting since arriving in Boston in 1999.
Today, the 31-year-old works in construction, is on the board of the Tibetan Association of Boston and has almost completely stopped working on traditional thangka paintings.
Jorden's style is a very particular mix of Eastern art traditions and those of Western culture. Unlike how some Westerners view art - as a commodity - Eastern traditions focus on the meditational meaning of the art and not its sales value. Although Jorden's type of art and muses have changed since his education and experience in Tibet as a thangka painter, he remains close to the Eastern traditions in his art - creating for a cause. Where does this leave Jorden?
Nowadays, Jorden has a different focus: A voice of peaceful activism for the Tibetan cause of peace.
Jorden wants to show and teach people through his art about the pain and suffering that Tibetans have been and still go through today. Interestingly, he still uses the skills he learned in traditional thangka to shape the faces of the struggling Tibetans he paints. But, with no one to look at them, besides his closest friends, no one can see the talent he has or the cause he wants to promote.
Jorden doesn't sell his work because he is using it for traditional reasons like spiritual enhancement, though he does understand that he has a deep connection with Tibetan culture and faith, but he is just too attached to let go of them.
"I don't know what it is and why I can't let go of them," said Jorden. "The idea to paint just comes to you because you love it and that's why I do it."
Dhondup Thunkhang, who volunteers at the Tibet Association of Boston, said that as long as he has known Jorden he has known he has had a special place in his heart for the Tibetan mission and an incredible talent for Thangka painting.
"He's very politically active and you can see it in his art," said Thunkhang. "There is violence, oppression and occupation. He continues to test different mediums. He does functional art, but also art that is an expression."
Even though in today's economy the purchasing of art has decreased, and with notable, national galleries closing, Thunkhang thinks that people would buy Jorden's art.
In a recent New York Times article Zhang Yasha, a teacher of fine arts at the Minzu University of China who specializes in Tibet was quotes as saying that more young people are learning how to paint in thangka style because it's lucrative.
"We've always tried to encourage him to do more with his art," said Thunkhang. "I think he feels guilty taking time to paint and sell his art."
A particular issue that Jorden faces, like many immigrants to the United States, is that he must provide not only for himself, but also his family back in India. Although selling art is something he may dream about, for now, at least, doing construction is giving him a comfortable and consistent income.
With roughly 600 Tibetans in and around Boston, the community is very small and tightly knit. Although Jorden isn't known for his art because he doesn't show it off, about 90 percent of the people within the community know his talents and call upon him to help out in sketches for community posters, said Thunkhang.
Recently, Jorden did the art work for a community poster that advertises the visit of the Dalai Lama on May 2, at Gillette Stadium. Jorden is quite excited about the opportunity to be in the presence of the Dalai Lama. After all, there is a large portrait he painted of his Holiness hanging in his small bedroom in Somerville.
Watch Jorden discuss some of his most recent inspirations and see some of his paintings.
Thangka painting basics
Learn about the ancient art of thangka paintings and how it was taught to Ngawang Jorden in Tibet.
Ngawang Jorden explains the meanings, traditions and the art of thangka painting based on his education in Tibet.
* Thangka is used for and its meaning:
A Thangka Buddhist banner was hung in a monastery or a family altar and occasionally carried by monks in ceremonial processions.
The word thang means flat, and thus the Thangka is a kind of painting done on flat surface but which can be rolled up when not required for display, sometimes called a scroll painting.
The most common shape of a thangka is the upright rectangular form.
These thangka served as important teaching tools depicting the life of the Buddha, various influential lamas and other deities and bodhisattva.
One popular subject is The Wheel of Life, which is a visual representation of the Abhidharma teachings (Art of Enlightenment).
These Tibetan religious paintings offer a beautiful manifestation of the divine, being both visually and mentally stimulating.
Thangka, when created properly, perform several different functions; images of deities can be used as teaching tools when depicting the life (or lives) of the Buddha, describing historical events concerning important Lamas or retelling myths associated with other deities. Religious art is used as a meditation tool to help bring one further down the path to enlightenment.
* Steps of learning to paint thangka paintings:
You need to learn to graph out the proper lines, segments, and spacing, this involves a particular type of formula that you must memorize.
There are four basic forms of deities that you must initially learn. These forms must be mastered and practiced hundreds of times until memorized and drawn perfectly.
These are: Buddha Shakyamuni (represents/ helps you with the form of a neutral position), Green Tara (basic female form), Vajrapani (basic form of a wrathful deity), Kalachakra (basic form for very complex deities).
Then you are taught how to make by hand the canvas for each thangka. It must always be done the same way. The frame is made of wood and the canvas must be stretched over it. There is a single piece of rope that is laced behind the canvas which must be pulled tightly. It is similar to what a hand made drum may look like.
* Steps of creating the thangka canvas and painting:
Next, is to make homemade "leather glue" that is mixed with powered chalk, which is then painted on top of the canvas. This helps to be some what of filler for the canvas, and then helps us create a smooth surface.
After the glue dries, it is lightly gone over with a wet rag. While the surface is still wet, you must rub the canvas on both sides with a very smooth rock, which each artist finds in some nearby river.
Due to the wetting and rubbing the material allows the canvas to stretch; you must tighten the rope behind the material/canvas between each act. This must usually be done three times.
Finally you begin your thangka with the basic skills of measurement and forms that were the building blocks of your first few years as a thangka painting student.
When a line drawing of a specific deity is finished, color is added with water based acrylic paint. The fine tuning of color to a perfectly painted thangka can take a minimum of five years.
There are many different techniques to painting as well, in terms of shading, brush strokes, and the specific instructions that you must follow for each deity.
It's wonderful to read stories like this. Very interesting, although the stream of the story could have been more consistent. Ngawang Jorden's story provides with
tons of material for a writer to convey images and
memories; I feel the author doesn't completely do that this time. Thank you for sharing this with Boston's community though. How delightful! Overall, the article is great.