The Source

At the dawn of existence, before form and name, there was only the boundless origin. – “the Source”.

The Source takes inspiration from the Daoist notion of Tai Chu (太初), the primordial origin before form and name. At the centre, the Dao as the heart of the cosmos. Around it, textures ripple outward like water, tree rings, strata, and galaxies, evoking cycles of birth, change, and return.

Gold leaf flickers like a shifting mirror, recalling Zhuangzi’s words in Qiwulun: “Heaven and I are born together, and all things and I are one” (天地与我并生，而万物与我为一). The palette follows the Five Elements: green for Wood and growth, red for Fire and vitality, ochre for Earth and grounding, white-silver for Metal and clarity, and blue for Water and flow, suggesting the ceaseless balance of the universe.

The black background recalls Chapter 14 of the Dao De Jing, where the Dao is seen as unseen, heard as unheard, and grasped as ungraspable (视之不见，听之不闻，搏之不得）. Cracks across the surface mark both fragility and resilience, reminding us that while change is constant, continuity endures.

The Source is both an image of the beginning and a return to the hidden axis that sustains all things.