PUBLICATIONS

Assembly of the Exalted: The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room

(Coauthored with Donald S. Lopez, Jr.)

Assembly of the Exalted presents some fifty objects from the remarkable collection of Alice S. Kandell, each dating from the late 13th to the early 20th century, as the constituents of a Tibetan Buddhist shrine. Shrines, both modest and grand, are the primary sites of Tibetan Buddhist practice, whether it be reciting scriptures, performing rituals, saying prayers, or engaging in meditation. One introductory essays focuses on the types of Tibetan Buddhist shrines and the kinds of practices that take place therein. The other essay tells the story of the Kandell Collection—how the pieces came to be assembled and displayed in shrines at institutions across America. Illustrated with vivid photography, forty short essays, each centered on a single work or set of objects, describe the pieces in terms of their importance for the practice of Buddhism, highlighting the many essential functions of Tibetan Buddhist art within the space of a shrine.

Hyecho’s Journey: The World of Buddhism

(Coauthored with Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Kevin G. Carr, Carla Sinopoli, Chun Wa Chan, Ha Nul Jun, and Keiko Yokota-Carter)

In the year 721, a young Buddhist monk named Hyecho set out from the kingdom of Silla, on the Korean peninsula, on what would become one of the most extraordinary journeys in history. Sailing first to China, Hyecho continued to what is today Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, before taking the Silk Road and heading back east to China, where he ended his days on the sacred mountain of Wutaishan. His fragmentary travelogue, the only evidence of this pilgrim’s journey, was discovered in Dunhuang’s famed library cave in 1908, rescuing Hyecho from obscurity. Highlighting twelve locations Hyecho visited across Asia, this book shares Buddhist narratives associated with each place, many of which he would have known, and presents works of art from the collection of the Freer|Sackler that evoke each site and its story. Through the eyes of one remarkable Korean monk, we discover a vibrant tradition flourishing across a vast stretch of Asia. Hyecho’s Journey is simultaneously a rediscovery of a forgotten pilgrim, an accessible primer on Buddhist history and doctrine, and a gripping, beautifully illustrated account of travel in a world long lost.

Paths to Perfection: Buddhist Art at the Freer|Sackler

(Contributing author; edited by Debra Diamond)

This guidebook introduces readers to Buddhist art and its history across Asian cultures through the celebrated collections of the Freer|Sackler, the Smithsonian's museums of Asian art.

FORTHCOMING

“The Chemrey Monastery Museum: A Space for the Sacred, the Secular, and the Preservation of Ladakhi Heritage,” in Tibetan Monastery Collections and Museums: Traditional Practices and Contemporary Issues, edited by Christian Luczanits and Louise L. Tythacott (Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2023).

“Maynard Dixon’s Cedar City Works and the Legacy of Depression-Era Community Art Galleries in Utah,” in Proceedings from the BYU Museum of Art’s Symposium on Maynard Dixon (Title TBD), edited by Kenneth Hartvigsen.

TALKS & PRESENTATIONS

"The Mystery of Dixon's Cedar City Works” Maynard Dixon: A MOA Symposium, BYU Museum of Art, 2023.

“A Manual for Monks & A Guide for Artists: The Many Lives of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s Illustrated Text.” “The Materiality of Tibetan Books” (invited panel organizer/presenter), The Bibliographical Society of America Annual Conference (remote), 2022.

“A Mirror of Hands-on Instruction: Visual Transmission in the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s Illustrated Vinaya Commentary,” “Vision and Visualization in Tibetan Tantra” Panel, Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference, 2020.

“Hyecho’s Journey: Pilgrimage as Pedagogy,”  Pilgrimage in the Academy (invited speaker), Annual Symposium for Pilgrimage Studies, College of William & Mary, 2019.

“The Monastery Museum: A Space for the Sacred and the Secular,” “Buddhist Space” Panel, American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, 2019.

“The Monastery Museum: Where the Sacred and the Secular Mix,” Dissensus or Impasse?: Embodied Doubles and Historical Ruptures, Anthro-History Program Annual Symposium, University of Michigan, 2017.

“Where the Sacred and the Secular Meet: The Politics of Display at a Monastery Museum in Ladakh, India,” Museum Studies Brown Bag, University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2016.