By Katy Conway

As you cross the threshold of Lexington’s Shambhala Meditation Center, you sense something special is at hand. This impression is reinforced by one of the first images you encounter. A donation from Lexington artist Monica Pipia to the Shambhala Center, it is a portrait of a female Buddha and “the windhorse,” a key symbol in Tibetan Buddhism. For Buddhists, the windhorse represents the source of all human energy, and has many related talents. One is flying. Another is the ability to transform negative and destructive energies into positive and life-affirming forces for good. 

Positive energy is something the "International Women's Exhibit 2025" has in abundance. This art exhibit is open for two more weekends and by appointment at the Center’s contemplative art space, the Mill & Max Gallery. Inspired by International Women’s Month in March, it’s a show that simultaneously celebrates women, art, Lexington’s international communities and connecting to the positive source of energy and creativity within us all.

Not surprisingly, the makers in the exhibit (from 8 different countries) bring diverse perspectives and traditions to their work. The Andaman Islands, China, Algeria, Mexico, Hungary and Sweden are places some of these artists were born. The artists also represent a spectrum of experience, from the well-established (e.g., Helene Steene), to the up-and-coming (three are international students at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School). But, when you experience all 40 pieces under one roof, ethnic origins blur, and they all make sense together — perhaps because the energy and spirit of the artists feel so joyful and real.

Included in the show are large abstract paintings by the well-known Swedish-born artist Helene Steene. Through the alchemy of paint, marble dust and textured metals, Steene’s “Oculus I,” “Oculus II” and “Oculus IV” are meticulous in their geometry, and their reflective and richly patterned surfaces interplay with deeply layered paint in gorgeous colors. They are paintings you want to examine closely and admire from all angles and distances.

Through small ceramic sculptures that pay tribute to our prehistoric ancestors, Hungarian-born educator and artist Dr. Illona Szekely creates portraits that combine the spontaneity of cartoon sketches with the earthy imperfections and quirks of real, non-idealized women’s bodies. Some of these bodies double as vessels, revealing miniature cavities that store small stones, clay objects and tiny plants. They bring to mind another international woman, the Israeli-born artist Maira Kalman, who wrote and illustrated “Women Holding Things.” In it, Kalman writes, “What do women hold? The home and the family. And the children and the food. The friendships. The work. The work of the world. And the work of being human… Men do as well, but not quite in the same way.”

Among other works, Esmeralda Martin, from Mexico, has two Catrinas on view. Her Day of the Dead sculptures are especially skillful examples of papier-mâché with traditional engrudo. In vibrant party dresses and with intricate flourishes of personal significance to the artist, the figures embody living in the moment as they perennially walk the line between now and the hereafter. 

Chinese artist Lishu Wu’s three-dimensional sculpture “Identity Mapping” exemplifies art that evolves. Wu is interested in the “concept of self-perception in a rapidly changing society.” Recording each new response to the artist's prompt, Wu’s piece is continually transformed as it simultaneously transforms viewers into co-creators. And in doing so, Wu allows us to witness her piece adding a fourth dimension — time.