The Face of Glory

This is an image I've felt strongly about for a long time and have always wanted to draw or paint, so last year I finally got around to it. The Face of Glory, or Kirtimukha, is an image commonly carved or painted over the doors of Indian temples, but it appears in various forms throughout Eastern religious artwork. For a description of and commentary on this image that far surpasses anything I could write, see the extract from Joseph Campbell's 'Myths To Live By' here.

I'm rather fascinated by concepts of life feeding on life, and the relationship between creation, preservation and destruction (or sex, life and death) that is so often beautifully described in Indian art. I painted this for Jakob, my good friend and fellow artist at Chapel Tattoo, in exchange for some beautiful conch shells he inked on my chest. Thanks pal.