The Seeds Inside: Inspired by Yin and Yang, by Nadia Daniels-Moehle. 2018. Charcoal on paper.
The Yin and Yang symbol is one I always interpreted as balance, the dots at the centers like the eyes of a storm. The symbol is a representation of calmness, calm only reached through a kind of absolute harmony. Digging deeper, I realized that the Yin/Yang symbol does not just contain balance but also duality. Duality in the sense that a polar state can only be polar with its opposite, think day and night.
While exploring the concept of Yin and Yang for today’s piece, I went to a book that has diligently waited on my family’s bookshelves. The Complete Encyclopedia of Signs & Symbols (WorldCat / Bookshop) dives into the meaning of the shapes,
“The dark and the light parts of the symbol are directly opposed yet interlocking and mutually dependent; the two small spots in the symbol show that each opposing force contains a seed of the other.”
Many moments we experience rely on the balance created by opposites: our sight is made possible by light and shadow interacting with each other. Like the Yin/Yang symbol, we, as people, have seeds inside us that belong to one another–and perhaps we share these seeds by embracing our interacting polarities, our Yin and Yang.
161 days done, 204 to go.