Gwendalin Qi Aranya

Chuan Kung Shakya — Zen Artist & Ordained Zen Priest

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Gwendalin has been an artist her entire life. Her mother was also an artist and taught her everything she knew. At twelve she earned a scholarship to the Baum School of Art. One teacher taught her to doodle; another taught her to draw by looking at the subject and not the paper—significant teachings that led her to become a Zen artist, long before she knew what that meant.

At sixteen she attended Bard College at Simon’s Rock, where she illustrated a field guide to medicinal plants. At Rutgers University she first picked up a paintbrush—and was so delighted with painting that she quit school to become a painter. She returned to finish degrees in Linguistics (BA, Temple), Mathematics (MS, UNLV), studied toward a PhD in Art Theory at the University of Western Australia, and ultimately completed an MFA in Painting at Howard University.

In August 1998 she was ordained as a Zen priest at the Hsu Yun Temple in Honolulu. Her dharma name is Chuan Kung Shakya, in the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun. She has dedicated over four decades to exploring the intersection of spiritual practice and visual art—her dharma is to share Zen with the world through her art.

“What is important and different about Zen art is nothing at all. There is no theme to fit in to the necessary constraints of others. There is no necessary stylistic unity. There is just creation and being creation, and at the same time being nothing at all.”

“Waterlilies (lotuses) are an important Buddhist symbol of enlightenment. Each painting is a meditation: the process of painting is a meditation, and the viewing is also a meditation. Please enjoy and Rest in JOY!”

40+Years

MFAHoward

Who’s Whoof America

Zen Painting

Zen painting is free, effortless, natural painting. There is no planning, thought, or struggle. When one is engaged with Zen painting, there is no painter and no thing being painted; the painter and the painted are one.

But that is not to say that it is easy. The struggle is to maintain purity, and not let the ego take over with excess thinking, planning, judgment, and confusion. As children, we naturally paint, effortlessly as we see fit, and then we are taught to look this way and do it that way. Zen painting runs counter to the usual academic and conceptual methods for creation of artwork.

By its nature Zen painting dictates no content, not even the famous Zen content of no-content. The work is richly varied. In Zen-fashion, it goes deep beneath the surface, uncovering difficult issues which people are afraid to look at, admit, or contend with. The nature works are bright and delightfully gay, and the figurative works are intensely honest.

Spiritual Guidance

Reverend Chuan Kung Shakya runs the Maitri Aranya Zen Buddhist Center in the Washington DC Metro area, where she teaches Zen Buddhism and meditation, gives spiritual guidance, and offers private and group Hatha yoga instruction. She also provides Reiki (distance and hands-on energy healing), yogic nutritional counseling, and officiates weddings and other ceremonies.

Zen lessons are also available over the internet for those who do not live in the area.

Yoga

A certified Dharma Yoga and Yoga Synthesis instructor registered with Yoga Alliance, Gwendalin was first introduced to yoga and meditation at the age of twelve. She completed her 200-hour certification in 1999 with Raji Thron, and in 2008 completed Sri Dharma Mittra’s Life of a Yogi 500-hour advanced training. She is qualified to teach Dharma Yoga Levels I through IV.

Gwendalin Qi
Aranya

Selected Paintings

Art Expo NY 2026

Four Decades of Creation