Meet-And-Greet with Thangka Artist Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art presents... an exclusive talk and meet-and-greet with thangka artist, Leslee Rinchen-Wongmo!

Meet Leslie

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo is a textile artist, teacher, and author of Threads of Awakening: An American Woman’s Journey into Tibet’s Sacred Textile Art. A California girl who bought a one-way ticket to India and landed in a Tibetan sewing workshop next door to the Dalai Lama, she became one of few non-Tibetans to master the Buddhist art of silk appliqué thangka. Trained by two of the finest living Tibetan appliqué artists, Leslie learned to stitch bits of silk into elaborate figurative mosaics that bring the transformative images of Buddhist meditation to life. 

Her pieced silk thangkas have been exhibited internationally and featured in magazines such as Spirituality & Health, FiberArts, and Fiber Art Now and in the documentary, Creating Buddhas: The Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas. 

Threads of Awakening — the first book to explore the Tibetan art of silk thangkas—is the inspiring story of a California woman who found her heart’s home on the other side of the globe, stitching sacred Buddhist wall hangings right next door to the Dalai Lama. Part art book, part memoir, part spiritual travelogue, Threads of Awakening is a delightful and inspiring blend of adventure and introspection. Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo shares her experience as a California woman traveling to the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India to manage an economic development fund, only to wind up sewing pictures of Buddha instead.