Kanzeon and Deer (66/66)

The final numbered print in an edition of sixty-six — Kanzeon (the Bodhisattva of Compassion) paired with a deer. The deer (shika) in Buddhist iconography appears in the Deer Park at Sarnath where the Buddha gave his first teachings, making it one of the most sacred of Buddhist animals. Oda's Kanzeon and Deer composition thus places the two most emblematic figures of Buddhist compassion and spiritual teaching in direct relationship: the bodhisattva who chose to remain in the world to help all beings attain liberation, paired with the animal that was present at the moment that teaching began. Being the last of sixty-six prints gives this composition a particular completeness, a sense of fulfillment.