"Green Dragon" 66" x 66"  Detail Oil on Canvas  by John WorldPeace A partial interpretation from the artist's perspective The center of the painting is a green and red yin-yang symbol. The yin-yang symbol is an expression of how the universe is in a constant state of change. The green is always encroaching on the red and the red is always encroaching on the green within an endless circle. In addition, the red and green each have a dot of their opposite within their area. This means that nothing is pure. The green contains some red and the red contains some green. In this painting, the red symbolizes man and the green symbolizes the earth. As man creates his edifices, the earth immediately begins to erode them. In time, all manmade things will disintegrate.  The yin-yang symbol is most closely associated with the Taoist; religionist whose sacred text is the "Tao te Ching" written by Lao Tzu 2,500 years ago. My use of the yin-yang is not to promote Taoism. I used the yin-yang because there is no other symbol that embodies the one universal constant; change. Gods come and go, people come and go, things come and go, planets and stars come and go. All things that manifest from the Infinite Potential eventually disintegrate back into the oneness of all things. From the yin-yang a spiral begins to expand clockwise around the painting. Along the spiral can be found alternating spheres of red, yellow and blue, the primary colors from which all colors can be mixed. The spiral is an ancient symbol which relates to the evolving universe. It also represents the coiled up snake which is a symbol of wisdom and eternity. The snake is also closely related to the dragon which is the dominant figure in the painting. The dragon has many meanings but has always seemed to be related to uncontrolled chaos. The dragon is something to be conquered. The dragon is the ultimate primal nature which is all powerful and all destructive. By conquering the dragon within ourselves we become enlightened. In this painting, the dragon represents the religions of the East; Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism. These religions each focus more on the Infinite aspect of God as opposed to the anthropomorphic aspect of the God of the Jews, Muslims and Christians which is but a finite aspect of the all encompassing essence of the one God. The black hands represent the religions of the West which are trying to control the dragon which represents the religions of the East. On each black hand are generic mandalas which are representative of the dominant religions of the West including the Mormons and the Bahai's. Circling counter clock wise in the painting, along the lines of the spiral are bats. In the East, the bat is a symbol of happiness and long life. In the West, it symbolizes negativity somewhat similar to the dragon and also the sexual ambiguity of a hemaphrodite. So within the bat the forces of the yin-yang combine. All winged beings are symbolic of spirituality. Birds represent the higher consciousness of humanity. In many traditions, they represent human souls. In the painting, the birds emanate from the center and fly in an infinitely expanding spiral gaining more and more knowledge of the universe. This represents the ever seeking curiosity of humanity. The butterflies are also spiritual in nature. They evolve from caterpillars. Within their life, they experience a dramatic metamorphosis from crawler to flyer. In life, we are human beings but in death we shed our bodies and fly as spirit. The butterflies, unlike the birds and bats, are not flying either in or out of the spiral. They are facing all directions which indicates that they are flowing freely and not on a particular path. The body of the dragon has many stars on it. This is symbolic of the dragon as a constellation in the night sky. Globally, this suggests that the dragon is universal. The dragon has no wings and so it is of the earth and it is held down by the black hands which represent humanity which is also earth bound. Swirling around the dragon are birds, bats and butterflies which represent the spiritual beings who come and go on earth and the guardian spirits and angels who dominate the non-physical world. The dragon is holding a blue sphere.  However the dragon's green hand on the blue sphere represents the earth.  The dragon hand represents the continents that exists in the oceans.  Therefore, the dragon is the earth.  The theme of the painting is that all things change and that everything within the universe is chaotic because everything is in a constant state of changing from one existence to another. On all levels, heaven and earth, spiritual beings are constantly coming and going between the physical and non-physical dimensions.  Control is an illusion. It only seems possible due to the limited time physical beings exist. Within the Infinite Potential, where there is no beginning nor end, life manifests for finite periods and human beings harness and tame and manipulate nature and live the illusion that they are in control. Yet in time, nothing survives as change constantly frees all things bound. All things that manifest, disintegrate. As above, so below. John WorldPeace