Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1011587
B oth an artist and spiritual guide, LA-based Can- su Bulgu creates emotionally intuitive and per- sonally aligned work that's both meditative and ethereal. Her interactive work shapes an enlightening and delightful experience for participants. Bulgu creates large-scale intuitive sculptural draw- ings in the sand, sharing the process as live sand drawing sessions with clients. Her act of creation is personal, as she shapes individual works that hum with spirituality. Along with these live sessions, she also cre- ates personalized, one-of-a-kind installations and spir- itual contemporary fi ne art series on dye-infused ink metal panels. Her calling to the creation of sand art began in 2010 in Kauai, when she "touched the sand and the fi rst drawing came. It was one of those sparkles of life" that she felt compelled to follow. At the time she had a highly successful career in IT, yet Bulgu knew her life and calling had mysteriously changed. "I felt the pull of love toward a new creation that wanted to come through. It was choice-less, really," she said. Although she felt the call to this work in 2010, it wasn't until 2015 that she started bringing it out into the world. A gallery show in Laguna Beach was the beginning. Her drawing happens without any pre-conceptualization. It is intuitive, and emerges from her hands naturally, like a rain- bow after the rain. "Rather than working on it, we come to- gether, and we are being drawn in the moment," she says of her process with clients. Bulgu selects the beach location and time along with her clients, starting each of her sessions with a beautiful cleansing sound from a crystal bowl. Once performed, she becomes somewhat "other" than herself, moving almost trance-like through the shaping of a sand drawing that is spontaneous and graceful. She says she is channeling her clients' essence in her stunning, large-scale sand mural. The powerful energy of her sessions spills from her into the client. Having experienced this myself, it is like a powerful meditation or the visual equivalent of a sound bath. Being by the sea, the power of wind, ocean, and tides seems to be harnessed through her work. You almost have to experi- ence it – to, well, experience it. "I just love showing up as life gives me invitations. It's so mysterious and familiar… personal and universal at the same time," she explains. "My work is very alive. You can hang my pieces from different angles and see different perspectives." According to Bulgu, "When we drop our personality in any moment, when death of ego occurs, it becomes a contain- er for light. You are the embodiment of light in that space of stillness." Her work is an intrinsic part of her life, and, it truly does become a part of the participant's too. Once asked exactly what it is that she does to cre- ate the rich, mandala-like works, she says she replied, "There are two circles from which you can live life. In the fi rst, you can describe everything with words, yet lose some of the meaning. In the other circle, you just have a clear and deep sense of knowing, yet, you can- not use words to describe or talk about it. This work is best experienced from the latter circle. It's so simple yet profound. A gentle shift in perception offers effort- less transformation. Light, light, light." See more of the artist's work via her website at www.cansuart.com. The Zen Sand Art of Cansu Bulgu By Genie Davis creativity INTUITIVE CREATIONS Photos: Cansu Bulgu August/September 2018 15