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In Tibetan Buddhism, a mandala is an imaginary palace that is contemplated during meditation. The abstract expressionist Sam Francis' mandala series is perhaps my favorite of modernist improvisations on the theme. My series starts with the original theme in mind. Improvisations then wander far from the original theme, and become more or less independent and self-contained, eventually towards metamorphosis.
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traditional tibetan mandala
   
interpretation by sam francis
my interpretations:
   
literal geometrical
 
painterly gestural
       
between geometrical and painterly