Tōdai-ji

A lot of meditation methods ask one to find their inner Zen, to achieve a peaceful and quiet mind. I remembered that quiet as soon as I walked through Nandai-mon (The Great South Gate) toward Daibutsu-den (The Great Buddha Hall) after battling for my life against the sacred sika deer. It wasn't the quiet of the surrounding sounds, but the quieting of one's chaotic mind—the peace one can only find when they are utterly content. I think it’s the scale of this place that washed away my cynical thoughts.

I found a similar inner Zen while working on this piece. It was the biggest project I had worked on at the time, and I wanted to recreate that grand reveal of my first sight of Daibutsu-den (The Great Buddha Hall) as detailed as possible.