Seeking Refuge

“Seeking Refuge” is an individual project, a digital render created in a time of intense self-reflection. During this time, I wanted to reframe how I thought and perceive thoughts in order to at least try to resolve some inner conflicts. I started to explore Buddhist teachings by volunteering at a Chinese Buddhist Temple. During my time there, I had made friends with one of the maintenance workers and we had some powerful conversations which left me feeling serene in a time of turbulence and ultimately led me to make this piece. The endless knot in Buddhism is meant to represent Buddha’s endless wisdom and compassion. Water flows whereas ice is still. I chose to present the endless knot as an icicle as a visualization of serenity and patience in a constantly changing world and to immortalize and emphasize the importance of compassion.

The icicle knot and window structure was modeled and textured in Blender. The alpha maps for the frosted glass were made in Photoshop. Scene composited in Blender and rendered with Cycles. HDRI map from hdrihaven.com.