Testimonial

Veeno's mandala “Gong” is displayed in my study. Now, in the days of the exhaustingly repetitive annual world climate conference, I often look at it. It seems to me to be a reflection of what I experience as my own situation, but also as the overall world situation.

What touches me the most is the fragmentation in the picture. What once was a connecting fabric between people and powers has been torn apart.

But in or behind this destruction a wholeness becomes visible: the circle. It holds everything together and creates a protected space. Filigree lines also suggest possible orientations. As if our longing for wholeness becomes even more urgent amid the fragmentation. Or vice versa: as if the circle and the lines make us aware of how torn we often are.

“Gong” hints at a miracle: A golden ground shines in the depths; and a golden keystone glows in the vault of creation. Everything seems to be held together from above and below, the circle as well as the fragments. How can this be?

Making the incomprehensible visible; weaving opposites together; giving gold its place: these are the possibilities of art that Veeno Regula Mäder brings forth from the mystery of life.

Rudolf Högger, President of the Board of Trustees, Tibet Institute Rikon from 2004 to 2016, author of the book Presents for Buddha: The Meaning of the Eight Auspicious Symbols in Tibetan Buddhism