In my artistic journey, form and its evolution take center stage. Embracing a contemporary perspective, I reject the notion of a perfect drawing, finding beauty in the distortions that shape my figures. Themes of relationships and their interplay with the surrounding environment dominate my subjects’ narratives.
A poignant example is ‘My Pieta,’ depicting the farewell between Jesus and his mother. The piece delves into personal emotional depths, resonating with my own experiences of loss. Through my creations, I seek a connection with my reality, exploring the profound meanings embedded in the artwork.
As an artist, I strive to creatively express glimpses of the ‘Divine Imagination,’ playing the role of the ‘great convincer’ who passionately presents the pain and beauty of my inner world, offering a compelling portrayal of both.
Sketch 2 23.6″ x 29.5″, Charcoal Nov 2014Sketch 1 23.6″ x 29.5″, Charcoal Nov 2014Virgin 4″ x 4″, Printmaking – Monotype Feb 2013Eternal Salvation 4″ x 4″, Printmaking – Monotype Feb 2013Christ 4″ x 4″, Printmaking – Monotype Feb 2013The Annointed 4″ x 4″, Printmaking – Monotype Feb 2013Magdalene 4″ x 4″, Printmaking – Monotype Mar 2013Savior 5″ x 2.5″, Printmaking – Lithograph July 2014Kingdom of God 5″ x 7″, Lithograph July 2014
The color blue carries diverse meanings for each individual. Bright shades have been known to encourage calm and clarity, while darker ones can appear tumultuous, or mysterious, like the night sky. In an Indian myth, during a crisis, gods and demons united to churn the ocean, though in their efforts, they released the deadly poison ‘Halahala.’ Lord Shiva, in order to save the universe, consumed the poison and– with the help of the goddess Shakti– turned blue.
Halahala symbolizes negative unconscious forces, suggesting we choose whether to succumb to it. The ‘Blue’ art series signifies this poison, representing societal issues. The works depict women breaking free from norms, celebrating their endurance against abuse and objectification. Blue reflects the current societal struggles, mirroring a call for change akin to a ‘Samudra Manthan,’ crucial for humanity’s salvation. The historical context adds layers to the color’s significance, portraying it not just as calming but also associated with melancholy and tragedy by artists like Matisse and Picasso.
‘Phenomena’ 10″ x 6″, Watercolor, 2022‘Awakening’ 10″ x 6″, Watercolor, 2022 ‘The Siren’ 10″ x 6″, Watercolor, 2022‘The Mother’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Apocolypse’ 16.7″ x 11.5″, Watercolor, 2021‘Shakti’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Eclipse’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Moon Mother’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Once Upon a Goddess’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Other Self’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘You Summoned Me’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Genesis’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Shero’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘The Uprising’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘She Was a Queen’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Silhouette’ 16.7″ x 11.5″, Watercolor, 2021‘Playground’ 16.7″ x 11.5″, Watercolor, 2021‘Invisible’ 16.7″ x 11.5″, Watercolor, 2021‘Iris’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021‘Incarnation’ 24″ x 16″, Watercolor, 2021
Posted on
Posted on
“When you learn how to suffer, you suffer much less.” ―Thich Nhat Hanh
I owe this performance piece to a friend and extremely gifted performance artist and teacher Ana Barbour (1966 – 2017) of Café Reason – Butoh Dance Theater, Oxford.
In my early exploration of social sculpture practice, I grappled with extensive reading, feeling overwhelmed. I aimed to propose a question through an evocative, intersectional act using gestural communication—expressing with courage, honesty, and vulnerability. This act, a dormant question, was uncovered and revisited in a new environment, drawing from past memories shared with a new audience. Their interpretations highlighted unaddressed issues, fostering solidarity and empathy. The feedback emphasized the importance of exploring suffering in a non-judgmental space, connecting both the communicator and the audience.
Understanding and embracing our bodies is crucial; pleasure and self-love are transformative. An erotic connection empowers women, promoting positive well-being. Recognizing and celebrating oneself is vital for overall health and happiness.
Medium: Performance Action applying the Japanese Dance Theater Form ‘Butoh’ – Social Sculpture and connective practice. Year 2017, Oxford
Posted on
SPARSH, which translates to “TOUCH” in Hindi, delves into the often overlooked realms of self-love and pleasure, particularly in the context of women. Unfortunately, these topics are frequently stigmatized or perceived as taboo when openly discussed. From my perspective, the body is a sacred temple, and prioritizing its well-being requires a holistic approach encompassing the mind, body, and spirit.
SPARSH, which translates to “TOUCH” in Hindi, delves into the often overlooked realms of self-love and pleasure, particularly in the context of women. Unfortunately, these topics are frequently stigmatized or perceived as taboo when openly discussed. From my perspective, the body is a sacred temple, and prioritizing its well-being requires a holistic approach encompassing the mind, body, and spirit.
The influence of social media often perpetuates the notion that a woman’s body needs constant perfection, implying that we are somehow inadequate as we are. Whether it’s the pressure to conform to societal standards regarding hairiness, sexual expression, or perceived desirability, these expectations can lead to feelings of shame, suppressed pain, trauma, and fear.
It is imperative that we develop a profound understanding of our own bodies, embracing what it truly means to be whole and sensual. Recognizing that pleasure is our birthright and that self-love can be a transformative force is key. Embracing an erotic connection with our bodies can be the most empowering state for women, fostering positivity and a genuine sense of well-being. Ultimately, acknowledging and celebrating ourselves is essential for our overall health and happiness.
This performance ‘SPARSH’ (Hindi word meaning TOUCH) is a fusion of the Japanese dance form ‘Butoh’ (a type of dance or silent theater which displays extreme visual images) and Indian ‘Rasa’ (Rasa means that which is being tasted or enjoyed). The work explores how the body fulfills a woman and supports her in navigating through the world with more eros, passion, confidence, and freedom of choice.
It is said that if our heart and intentions are in the right place, we attract everything that helps meet our purpose and need to be in this world. My artistic journey is blessed and transformative not just for me but for many whose intentions are aligned with me, ones who have chosen to walk alongside my path and the ones who do not align inevitably get removed from my force field. I love that about my journey, like some self-cleansing vortex of energy, I attract what and who I should, always stay grounded and keep moving on to a better place at every stage.
It feels amazing to look back and see how much everything has changed for the better or for worse. I have my own way of perceiving things that define me through my universe, how I feel much closer to my visions already. Not everyone can be known through the work they do but I consider myself lucky to be the one known by my purpose, which is to create, make art for a better world.
I lost my mother to Covid during the second wave of the Pandemic in India. That came as a major shock to my senses. It made me deeply reflect on questions about the temporality of human life and reason of being in this world.
Amidst all this mayhem I channeled all my anguish and pain into making meaningful art, this is what I do, which is, allow my art to heal me, sets me free from any personal crisis. It helps me breathe and move on with deep learnings.
The Hibiscus flower represents divine feminine energy, power, and strength. The philosophy of this powerful symbol is that of transformation, renewal, and rebirth meaning – the one that is destroyed also regenerates itself into new possibilities of life forms, such is the cycle of life. It serves as a reminder to embrace the beauty and power of the divine feminine within us all. The flower is also associated with many goddesses, including Venus, Aphrodite, and Isis. In Hinduism, the hibiscus is associated with the Goddess Kali, who is the primordial mother, goddess of birth and death. She is also associated with time and change, and the hibiscus flower is seen as a representation of these qualities. The flower is seen to stand for the cycles of life and the impermanence of all things. The beauty of the flower is also seen as an embodiment of the beauty of the divine feminine, with Kali as a representation of the powerful and mysterious aspects of femininity. In Buddhism, the hibiscus is said to represent enlightenment. The flower of hibiscus is therefore a powerful symbol of the divine feminine and all its potential.
Imagination can run free even if we humans remain trapped in our circumstances.
I was probably one of the first few in the region to contract the virus during the first wave of the pandemic, especially when all of us were unprepared. It took over a month of isolation, hard suffering and several kinds of remedies to cure the ailment. This near-death experience has filled my heart with gratitude towards life and everything that it offers me. To be able to breathe again and to hold my loved ones and see them safe and smiling means everything to me.
Once healed, the lockdown did not limit me from reaching out to other artists from across the globe. I used this opportunity to stay at home and engage in deep thinking, art journaling and make meaningful art by myself and sometimes online collaborations with artists around the world. The experience was more than satisfying, especially knowing that our creativity is not bound to any crisis, it is actually the opposite of that. Most meaningful art actually births from crisis weather emotional or physical.
Tuning-in to my surroundings One afternoon while I sat reading on a park bench, I began to carefully listen to sounds coming from my surrounding space. The pages of my book flipped by the wind, flock of birds bathing in the stream of water, the rustling of dried leaves, ringing bells of a church, the sound of a flask and tea being poured into a cup from someone sitting next to me, sound of a ball being kicked by children and their excitement. This open expanse had no barriers or acoustics yet these aural interconnected sounds of everyday life had a rhythm to it. Over the days I became more aware of my routine pattern of sounds. The structure of morning sounds included light switches, the kitchen exhaust fan, the toaster, toothbrush, flush, keyboard, water kettle, utensils in the sink and much more. I realized that we apparently hear these random sounds everyday but do we listen to them? These are perhaps the instruments that surround our day-to-day life and the sound emitted from them could be called the music of our life. My curiosity made me go deeper and research about this open framework of music.
Research and Collaboration I am a Sufi singer who was brought up with very traditional ideas about music. During my collaboration with Malcolm Atkins (a prolific music composer and performing artist based in Oxford) for musical performances in Oxford, I had discussed with him my thoughts about the harmony in sounds of daily objects. He then began enlightening me about the music of John Cage through several books, his compositions and even showed me how to write and read the graphic scores. This perception of music was completely unknown to me. I sensed immense freedom in the process of making the score and how this unique format was open to interpretation of the player. In his conception of ‘Indeterminacy’ (1957-1961), John Cage called it ‘Embracing the Open Form’
Experimenting with sound “I begin to hear the old sounds, the ones I had thought worn out, worn out by intellectualization – I begin to hear the old sound as though they are not worn out. Obviously, they are not worn out. They are just as audible as new sounds; our thinking had worn them out. And if one stops thinking about them, suddenly they are fresh and new”.– John Cage
As per John Cage’s method, I was beginning to identify sounds by their frequency, timbre, duration and amplitude. I would also visit bus stops, railway stations, café’s/restaurants and marketplaces to enhance my understanding of sound. I closed my eyes and allowed my pencil to follow the sounds, which my ear picked up. Each drawing differed from the other depending on the location where it was documented.
While collaborating with Malcolm and experimenting with different objects we noticed that sound shudders, flows, tinkles, bubbles, the pitch is high and low, etc. depending on the object and its environment. I was very excited to discover a world of new possibilities with making music. He had introduced me to the group of Oxford Improvisers, a group of highly accomplished musicians and composers who met on Monday evenings to practice experimental music. After attending their sessions and collaborating with them, I gained further insights about the open process of music.
Developing a Phenomenological understanding through this work. Our main inspirations while conceptualizing this work came from referring to John Cage’s lectures, ‘Lecture on Nothing’ and ‘Circus and Anarchy.’ The work was mainly conceived based on the perception of sound, a direct perception that is experiential. In this participative intervention the audience are the musicians, and an assembly of daily objects are perceived as instruments of life. The process of making music engages in openly exploring the essence of the objects without judging them for what they are in the real sense.
Collaborating Artist: Nivedita Saha and Malcom Atkins
