_ Kesang Lamdark was
born in Dharamsala, India in 1963. His father a Rimpoche or ‘Living Buddha’. "Rimpoche" is an honorary title in Tibetan Buddhism. It translates to mean "precious one." It is used to refer to or acknowledge Tibetan lamas and other highly ranking people or deeply respected teachers. Kesang Lamdark is sometimes affectionately referred to as "Kesang Lamdark - Son of a Rimpoche."
Lamdark was adopted by a Swiss family as a child and grew up in Switzerland. His mixed cultural heritage has been a source of inspiration for him throughout his life and he draws upon this inspiration through his art.
_Pink Tara Plastic and Chicken Wire 143 x 57 x 50 cm
_Buddha Shakyamuni 2011 Plexiglass, LED light and wood 50 x 39 cm
_ He
worked as an architect and later studied art at the Parsons School
of Design in New York from 1991-1995. He earned a Master's of Fine
Arts in 1997 from Columbia University in New York.
He creates sculptures and installations
from plastic, metal, LED lights and various other objects he finds. He
believes his work is a reflection of his Tibetan heritage and his
modern life in both the United States and Europe. He currently lives in
Zurich, Switzerland.
_Desperate Housewife 2011 Plastic and chicken wire 175 x 80 x 150 cm
_ Lamdark refers to his style of art as “neo-Tantric art” and considers it a fusion of traditional imagery created through westernized materials such as Styrofoam, plexiglass, beer cans and neon tubes. he particullary likes plastic because it is “modern and imperishable.” He also finds it appealing becuase it is ubiquitous in western culture and becuase it is so overused it is taken for granted. He likes the idea of taking something mundane or overlooked and making it "precious."
"One creation creates the next: by way of impulsive, intuitive, but
still thoughtful experiment. It’s in the making-no ready-mades available
- an open process…
We live a plastic life within a plastic world with plastic art,
plastic bags, plastic bombs, plastic bullets, plastic condoms, plastic
explosives, plastic money, plastic sex dolls, plastic surgery, plastic
etc. We surround ourselves with phantasmal colours and poster-like set
ups, and we like it to be man-made. Don’t we?"
-Kesang Lamdark
_Temple Dancer 2007 Rubin Museum of Art
_Channel 2011 Graphite on paper 96.5 x 254 cm
_“My work is like making little shrines. It’s the common things in them that make them precious.” -Kesang Lamdark
_Missing Sex Mandala Plexiglass, LED light and wood 120 x 12 cm
_Buddha TV (In the Spirit of Nam June Paik) 2011 Plastic, wood, chicken wire 80 x 80 x 120 cm
_
_
“When I am eating, I like to mix unusual things together:
meat with chocolate, bananas with anchovies. As an artist, I combine
unusual materials to create a taste for something different.” -Kesang Lamdark
_Flow 2011 Graphite on paper 152.5 x 101.5 cm
_Disco Fever 2011 Plexiglass, LED light and wood 39 x 50 cm
_ The following is part of an interview
taken from artintern.net between Kesang Lamdark and an interviewer:
Elaine Ng: So you were more fascinated with the materials and the
technique.
Kesang Lamdark: Technique, and also trying to understand what
Richter was thinking when he made it.
EN: But for you, working with the material and exploring was more
challenging?
KL: Exploring art?
EN: Just experimenting - like, what happens if I mix this with
that?
KL: Exactly. Can I use metal with plastic? Melt this?
EN: So you were bit of an alchemist.
KL: A little bit.
EN: There's nothing precious about your work?
KL: What do you mean, precious?
EN: Like there's nothing sacred. You use any material you find on
the street.
KL: Yes, but I make them precious.
EN: Why are you attracted to materials that aren't precious?
KL: Yes, but you have to make them precious. My work is like,
making little shrines–
EN: Little shrines?
KL: It's the common things that make them precious.
EN: When people think about Tibetan art, they think of rare
bronzes, or sculptures of marble or stone.
KL: Marble, yes, but in the end it becomes precious. Otherwise
it's a just a hunk of rock, metal or plastic.