The central theme of Miriam Sorrell’s (left) latest exhibition of paintings was Buddha. Marie Benoît found an artist at odds with the mania of life in our western society.

What inspired you to become an artist ?

I have always been drawn in by exciting visual images, and felt compelled to be around them and to get as close to them as possible. I enjoyed art greatly at school, and as I grew up I came to appreciate the wonderful gift that great artists have, in interpreting their view of life for others to feast on long after they themselves are no longer around. What a wonderful legacy they enhance the world with. The satisfaction of creating a work that is likely to remain in tangible form for many years, and that may also give pleasure to many people is a tremendous personal motivation for me to want to paint.

You paint with a vivid sense of colour – is this how you see the world?

I do of course see the miracle of abundance that nature provides us with, and being fortunate enough to live in the heart of the Mediterranean we enjoy an exaggerated array of colours, particularly in the summer. However, the life and environment that we have created is not always as sunny and beautiful as nature intended – in fact we have a lot to answer for in how we have fouled up the planet. So I find an escape through my art into an imaginary world that perhaps gets a little closer to my view of Utopia. I don’t always achieve it, and as with anyone, my work at any point will reflect where I am at personally.

I know from our previous conversations that India and Eastern culture in general is something close to your heart. However, it is quite a bold statement to take the image of Buddha as the central theme of an exhibition, Buddha Nature held last month at Cleland & Souchet, Portomaso, and kindly sponsored by Marsovin).

I have long felt at odds with the mania of life in our western society. Many of us are too driven by greed, and the acquisition of wealth has become an end in itself, virtually at any cost. We have forgotten how to show respect to one another, and to see that the real value of life lies in our ability to enjoy giving as much as receiving. How little time we make for anything other than our immediate needs and those of our family. Love and worth are not measured in financial terms. It can be as simple as dedicating a few minutes to listening to a stranger tell his story in the street – often one feels a far greater sense of fulfillment from such a simple, free exchange than any amount of extravagant shopping might provide.

For me the Buddha image is very powerful and symbolises the halting of time. The meditating Buddha emanates a serene calm and balance, and transcends stress and evokes tranquility in the chaotic world around us. So it was a natural image to work with to demonstrate my feelings through my art. This is a very fundamental part of who I am and what I believe.

Coming from a Christian background do you feel an empathy with the Buddhist way of life?

Well I certainly feel we have a lot to learn from the wisdom of Buddhist teachings. However, I have steered well clear of harnessing any religious connotations to my Buddha paintings. I have great respect for the symbolic importance the Buddha image has within its own religious context, however not being a Buddhist myself, I am more interested by how we may react to the imagery from our own Western perspective. For me a Buddha is not a martyr, but someone who is both proud yet humble, self-contained and wise. I find the Buddha image to be a source of inspiration from which I find an inner focus, peace and stillness. It reminds me of how in today’s modern society we so rarely make the time to stop and acknowledge the greater elements of our existence – creation, nature, animals, and the way in which we relate to them and ourselves.

The pressures of day-to-day living mean we are constantly preoccupied with turning the wheel faster and faster, and not experiencing the moment with mindful consciousness. We always look forward but do not place enough emphasis on the present.

After all it is our actions in the present that will determine the future.

We need a reminder to grind down the pace even for a short moment and take stock of what life and nature have to offer. When I take a break from painting I find myself watching my cats that I adore, and I see the same meditative calm in their demeanour.

There seems to be a primal element in much of your work. Circles appear in various forms, and sensual curves reminiscent of the female form are also evident, particularly in your abstract works. Are these consciously incorporated as you develop a painting or do you “discover” them once it is complete?

That’s an interesting point. I do find myself using a lot of spiral motifs, and doubtless this could make excellent material for a few sessions of psychoanalysis. I can’t say that I am always conscious of incorporating them into my work, and certainly the female curves you mention are usually pointed out to me by people when they give me their interpretation of one of my abstract paintings. In fact it’s extraordinary how diverse people’s reactions to the same work can be. I think many of these primal shapes must be firmly established in the limbic system since they appear even in Neolithic cave art, and in continents far apart, where it would have been quite impossible for one race to know what the other was doing at the same time. Maybe since I can’t look forward to where we might land up, I am subconsciously trying to connect with where I know I have come from.

So what lies on the horizon?

As is always the case after I have dedicated a concentrated period of time to intense work in preparation for a major exhibition, I look forward to a few weeks rest from my studio. But this time this was not to be the case – in fact I am presently working frantically to complete some Buddha commissions that came through from works already sold at the exhibition. I really can’t complain though, given that I am fortunate enough to be given the chance to play in the garden of creativity. After this I then have to give some thought to some commitments I have with galleries abroad. Perhaps after that I will get a chance to enjoy some time off this summer, and not let yet another year pass without making it to the beach!