Dantian Gazing

The gazer is so self-absorbed when he bends over to inspect his navel that he sees part of his face instead. In place of his bellybutton, he sees his eye, and instead of the lower part of his body, he sees his nose. Dantian refers to the energy centre near the navel and is a term I learned from lessons in tai chi.

The pent-up energy in the crouching figure with concertinaed limbs appeals to me. The limbs form a wound-up spring that can be traced from the left foot along the left leg under the body to the knee where it connects to the right toe. Continuing upward along the right leg, the spiral touches the right elbow, then continues up the right arm to the pivotal turning point at the hand on the head. Here the fingers point downward to the neck and left shoulder before the spiral descends along the left arm to the hand cradling the belly.

The large surface area of the figure took a long time to carve by hand – I never use power-tools. When carved, the stone appears much larger than the original block. An advantage is that the amount of stone required is less than half needed for an outstretched figure! My husband posed from time to time, patiently holding this difficult position. I carved a chevron pattern on the pedestal that supports the figure.