#354 Cosmic Earth - Bull Series XXXV, 1992

 Oil on linen, 76" x 77 1/2"

Cosmic Earth Bull Series

   The Cosmic Earth bull Series is a powerful metaphor for earthly and cosmic forces visualized as bulls. The vector of unity of everything in existence, which is common to all those exotic mythological systems with which Isham came into contact throughout her Odyssey, essentially forms the core of contemporary universal humanism, whose ecological dimension takes in everything living - man, nature, the cosmos, the universe. The bull is seen as a universal archetype of culture.

   Isham's travels and spiritual studies undoubtedly stimulated the series, for the mythology and aesthetic of Hinduism revere the bull as the protector of the god Shiva, the deity of destruction and regeneration.

   Isham had long been attracted to the art and philosophy of India, and in 1982 she spent six weeks there with the aim of intensively studying Siddha Yoga. 

-Alexander Borovsky

 Professor /Curator at Russian State Museum