Colleen Kerr Art

QRArising

This series of works is based on a fundamental Buddhist concept known as Dependent Co-Arising (pratitya samupada). It describes causes of suffering and the course of events that lead a being through birth, old age, and death. It holds that all life and phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent web of cause and effect. Often rendered in a linear form, this series is based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s circular diagram.

Beyond a mere philosophical or scientific concept, we can now see and experience firsthand more than ever that all beings are literally interconnected and dependent on each other for their existence on this planet. It is a particularly poignant concept for me.

The painting “Twelve” is representative of this diagram. The first embroidery “Not Knowing” is an image transfer of the painting on cloth, onto which I have cross stitched the QR code of the original painting in black thread. The second embroidery is an image transfer of the first embroidery, with its QR code cross stitched over top. And so on, through the series, building an interdependent web of images, causes and effects.