Born in West Berlin, Marlis Ladurée arrived in France in 1978, where she was to become one of the first artists to paint contemporary Mandalas. Of her first experience with the "magical circle - the esoteric diagrammes", she says :
"25 years ago, although I had been a student in design and fashion illustrations, I was already keen on Asia. My soul probably comes from there..."
Inspiration struck in 1989, during a lecture she was attending as part of her course with Shri Mahesh French Federation of Hatha Yoga.
Looking back, we can see that her early works followed a logical sequence, still inspired by temples - temples dedicated to the body first, then those of Indian mythology and eventually cosmic temples.
Its origins can be found in Jainism, Tantrism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Lamaism.
The word "Mandala" comes from Sanscrit, the sacred language of the Indian Brahmans, "Mandala" means "Circle" or more precisely, "Sacred Circle" or "Magic".
In Tibetan it is Kyl-Khor - Kyl means "Centre" and Khor means "Circle".
The Mandala represents the ideal world.
It is a geometric form with a centre -the concentration ; and a periphery - the organisation.
A Mandala is defined according to three principles of organisation :
the central point, a radiation from this point and the circular outer border.
In drawing a Mandala, we create our own sacred space the Mandala has been used since the beginning of time as a suport for Meditation.
Meditation on a Mandala gives silence, peace and harmony and brings inner stability. It allows us to look into our own world ; it guides us to the source of light within us.
Meditation is the path to self knowledge - it guides us to our true identity - our divine self - that self which shines in the depths of our souls.
Painting, for me, is the moment when I liberate impressions within me, when I receive and transmit messages and images from the subtle world.
What I produce is always guided by energies and influences which I analyse afterwards - never during.
