Garuda Trading

The complete series of five limited edition giclée prints. Signed and stamped with the personal seal of Tashi Mannox.

It is no surprise to those who know Tashi for his natural relationship with colour; that he has over the past four years, been quietly creating a collection of paintings featuring illuminated Tibetan iconographic calligraphy in vibrant colour.

This new body of works is called:

Laughing in the Face of Death:  To live and die without regrets.

At the heart of this new collection is a series of five striking paintings, executed in a full palette of acrylic paint. Tashi utilized techniques usually found in traditional Tibetan Thanka painting. These pieces are intricate and finely shaded and include gold and silver leaf. 

Each one of these pieces has taken many months of patience to carefully paint, in contrast to his more instant brisk calligraphy of the past years.

All five painting shows a happy, almost manic grinning skull. The skull is symbolic of impermanence in Tibetan iconography. Each of these emanates a different emotion, from a wrathful to a more peaceful expression.

The set of paintings migrate through different moods, from death to re-birth, known as the bardo in Tibetan, translated as ‘between stage’.

Each of the different moods can also be depicted as the transformation of the five ‘mind poisons’ into the ‘five wisdoms’, associated with the Five ‘Buddha families’.

This is a popular Tibetan Buddhist theme, which Tashi has illuminated to his own interpretation, which is based in his training in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and iconography. Tashi explains:

“A Buddhist practitioner, a Yogi or Yogini, strives to live without harming others and themselves, up to the point of death without any regrets, knowing that they have led a full and meaningful life, and thus able to look into the face of death confidently, laughing without fear. 

For such a practitioner the time of death is a great opportunity.  

But because generally as a non-practitioner we do not know ourselves, we are ignorant, and fear death, the ultimate unknown”.

Tashi’s intention is that for the viewer of the five paintings, there can be much to contemplate, from standing back and comparing each of the skulls to each other, perhaps noting their supple change in facial expression, to standing close to look into their void like eternally dark eyes.

“Looking into the face of the skull in the painting is somewhat like looking at oneself, a suggestion of ones inner self and emotions, rather like looking into a mirror: it may not be an entirely comfortable experience, but there is a familiarity, which is honest and beautiful at the same time”. 

This brings up the point of the general Western attitude to death and emotions, which is somewhat morbid, hidden and generally swept under the carpet. Facing images of death maybe somewhat challenging, but with courage of heart, one can laugh in the face of death, overcoming ones fears and transforming a negative into a positive.

The middle three skulls are crowned with the Sun and Moon, symbolising Wisdom and Compassion, the emblem of balance.

..........

For individual descriptions of each print please click on the links below. Also, if you do not wish to purchase the complete series, you can order individual limited edition prints signed and sealed by the artist.

The remedy is to tame hatred, converting to loving kindness of the first of the five wisdoms.

- Large individual Skull prints of 67x50 cm @ £452 GBP each.
- Half size individual Skull prints of 50x33.5 cm @ £347 GBP each
- Small individual Skull prints of 30x40 cm @ £252 GBP each

Each print is signed and stamped with the personal seal ofTashi Mannox.

The antidote of grasping is generosity, a great wisdom to practice.

- Large individual Skull prints of 67x50 cm @ £452 GBP each.
- Half size individual Skull prints of 50x33.5 cm @ £347 GBP each
- Small individual Skull prints of 30x40 cm @ £252 GBP each

Each print is signed and stamped with the personal seal ofTashi Mannox.

Golden yellow is the colour of riches of the earth and the adornment of the self.

The mood of this piece is pride, elaborate and princely. Pride converts to humility and respect as a wisdom.

- Large individual Skull prints of 67x50 cm @ £452 GBP each.
- Half size individual Skull prints of 50x33.5 cm @ £347 GBP each
- Small individual Skull prints of 30x40 cm @ £252 GBP each

Each print is signed and stamped with the personal seal of Tashi Mannox.

- Large individual Skull prints of 67x50 cm @ £495 GBP each.
- Half size individual Skull prints of 50x33.5 cm @ £347 GBP each
- Small individual Skull prints of 30x40 cm @ £252 GBP each

Each print is signed and stamped with the personal seal of Tashi Mannox.

Lastly, blue is emptiness. Through taming one’s mind, one has the clear insight to find liberation from these emotions of ignorance.This is the freedom of wisdom, as vast and limitless as the blue sky. This symbolizes the bud of potential, to bloom with fruition, full and glorious.

(Three of the skull images in this series are crowned with the Sun and Moon motif, this symbolizes Wisdom and Compassion, the emblem of balance and harmony.)

- Large individual Skull prints of 67x50 cm @ £452 GBP each.
- Half size individual Skull prints of 50x33.5 cm @ £347 GBP each
- Small individual Skull prints of 30x40 cm @ £252 GBP each

Each print is signed and stamped with the personal seal of Tashi Mannox.

1. Precious Human Existence
2. Impermanence
3. Karma
4. Samsara

Each print is signed and sealed by Tashi Mannox.

Equally any positive actions accumulated will result in the fruition of good Karma.

There is no rule in time to say when good and bad Karma will ripen, other than all the relevant causes and conditions come together for that particular ‘karma’ to manifest.

Generally, Karma can be defined as ‘personal karma’ and ‘collective karma’:
‘personal’ as a result of our own intention and action, ‘collective’ as a result of a unified conditioning, such as a collective intention and action, of a family, city, nation and as a world.

In this piece, the main word ‘Karma’ in Uchen script stands strong, supporting an accumulation of words that repeatedly read ‘cause and effect’.

1. Precious Human Existence
2. Impermanence
3. Karma
4. Samsara

Each print is signed and sealed by Tashi Mannox.

As a seed, the essence of life, uncoils in growth, delicate, precious and whole.
This curling Bindu shape, Sanskrit, Tigli in Tibetan, holds the words ‘precious human birth’ in a Tibetan Drutsa script.

This is the first of the ‘Four Contemplations’:

1. Precious Human Existence
2. Impermanence
3. Karma
4. Samsara

Each print is signed and sealed by Tashi Mannox.

1. Precious Human Existence
2. Impermanence
3. Karma
4. Samsara

Each print is signed and sealed by Tashi Mannox.