For me the Rose Mandalas evocatively created by Chrysanne Stathacos symbolise the gradual unfolding of our innate spiritual  potential. Conversely these mandalas remind us of the inherent impermanence of  even the beautiful.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

The Rose Mandala installations are based on historical circular structures with the intention of  creating a temporal work which changes over time.  These works are created by plucking dozens of roses apart petal by petal circling coloured mirrors range from 10 feet  to 60 feet wide.  The  viewers senses are touched by waves of rose scents inhabiting  the space of the work.  The mandalas are left to dry as the  petals are reduces to a quarter of their original size. At the end,  the mandala is dismantled in a final performance. The Rose Mandalas have been  swept up, gathered and thrown to the winds or blown away by human in breath by myself and the audience. These installation / performances reflect the ephemeral process of change, age, decay and emptiness.

The wheel of birth, death, life, turns often as I pass along these halls and cross  thresholds. An intricately, brightly woven 18th-century Tibetan mandala  hangs on a wall. Occupying an entire room, “Rose Mandala”  by  Chrysanne Stathacos seems casual. She has sprinkled many-colored petals on a  circular mirror and beyond its edge, which scatter as I tread carefully and  become aware of a rush broom in a far corner and, hung along the wall, bags  of sweepings. An effect of everyday work and time and humble art and impermanence. The artist’s comments on her intention and sources prove both  rich and unneeded; the work works by itself. from  A Poetry of Transience, by  Joseph McElroy for Shambhala Sun

 

The Rose Mandala series have been presented at :

The Temptation of AA Bronson: A Finissage, 2013-14

The Rose Mandala Mirror ( of Three Reflections)  at  The Temptation of AA Bronson at the Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam. Press includes Metropolis M , Hyperallergic & here- the Consolation of Temptation , All is Full of Love , Art in America, Art Forum  Phantasmaphile, and  Springerin.

Being There. 2014, Amy Lipton of  Lipton Arts, NY. NY,

Natural Wishing, 2012, The Textile Museum, 5×5 Initiative , Washington DC, curated by Amy Lipton

Compassion, Institute of Art, Religion and Social Justice,  Union, NY, NY curated by AA Bronson, 2012 

Rose Mandala (of  Three Reflections) Anderson Gallery, University of Buffalo, NY, 2008

Wade, Wade Collective, Toronto, Ontario, 2008

another chance, Nature Morte, New Delhi , India, 2005

another chance, PS122, New York, NY, USA, 2005

biCHANCE, Perfomance/installation, Participant Inc, New York ,NY. 2004

Cross Your Fingers, Project fur Kunst und Kultur, Frankfurt, Germany, 2003

Invisible Thread, The Buddhism Project, Snug Harbor, NY, NY, 2003

Petal Pusher,  Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada, 1999