Shiva Nataraja |Shiva as Lord of the Dance

In this depiction of Shiva we see the natural rhythms to everything in the cosmos. Birth and death, creation and destruction are simply phases all things will go through. In this bronze work from 11th century India during the Chola period, we see Shiva in a dancing pose. He is surrounded by a ring of flames. Fire is an interesting force as it can be tremendously destructive and dangerous, but simultaneously if it is handled properly, fire can provide warmth and light. As the flames dance, they transform the material world around them sometimes to our benefit and sometimes to our peril. In this piece, Shiva is surrounded by flames representing the eternal cycle of creation, preservation and destruction.  Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts Madness Tournament. Once again, I hope you will weigh in on your favorite artists/artworks as we go from 64 down to 1. For this year’s tournament, I put 32 works from the AP Art History list in one bracket, and on the other side, I have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 1 will begin Monday, February 24. In the meantime, learn about all the different artists/artworks. I will be posting daily mini episodes for 64 days (mostly encore presentations with some updates and new episodes most Mondays). Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round Check out my other podcasts  Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices