Los Angeles painter Pam Douglas is greatly inspired by ancient Asian philosophy reflected through contemporary sensibilities. Much of it pays respect to Zen artists who believed in using their instincts more than their brush and for whom paintings were poetry.

In many of her pieces, images of the sun, moon, galaxies and transcendence occur throughout all her series, sometimes invoking circles, the universal symbol of oneness or totality.

Her “Galaxies” exhibition at TAG Gallery in Santa Monica featured images taken by NASA’s Hubble Telescope now celebrating its 25th anniversary. She also features ethereal human subjects creating connections with the stars, but with a lighthearted tone. One outstanding image is a playful Buddha juggling 8 galaxy balls above his head.

“’Galaxies’ is not a meant to be a meditation solely on celestial life—audiences can definitely relate to what these earthly subjects are doing,” says Douglas, who is an award-winning artist who has participated in solo and juried shows, and in museum exhibits at the California African American Museum and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

“For example, a triptych of women serve trays of pastries made of spiralling stars. The show also includes an endearing image of a baby eating ‘galaxy fruit’ with great delight, and another shows a woman floating in outer space.”

She adds, “The images and titles might be interpreteted as fun, but I see them also as provocative, as subtle comments on humanity’s desire to make our connection to the universe more tangible, understandable.”

Galaxies” ran from September 1 – 26, 2015 at TAG Gallery, located at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, D3. – PamDouglasArt.com

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pam douglas' art invokes universal symbol of oneness or totality