Mayuri

No exhibition on the Indian subcontinent would be complete without a painting of the Peacock. The peacock is the national bird of India and is firmly entrenched in the culture of the Indian subcontinent.

In the subcontinent, peacocks are symbolic of grace, pride and beauty. In ancient times, Kings in the subcontinent were known to have peacock gardens in their palaces. It was a great privilege, in those times, to be invited to the royal Peacock gardens to see the male peacocks dance during the mating season. Since this season coincides with the Monsoons in India, peacocks are very closely associated with abundance and plenty. Peacocks also feature in Indian Mythology as the ‘vehicle’ of God Karthikeya, Goddess Saraswathi and Goddess Mahamayuri. Lord Krishna was also always depicted as wearing a peacock feather tucked in his headband.

What I wanted to portray through my painting was the grace and beauty of the peacock through the medium of the famous ‘Mayil Kazhuthu’ colour of the peacock. Mayil Kazhuthu literally translates to ‘the neck of the Peacock’. In India, it is a colour by itself. However, it is difficult to replicate this colour due to the iridescent feathers on a peacock’s neck. Hence we see the mayil kazhuthu colour appearing only in the famed kancheevaram sarees, where the silk acts as the iridescent medium for the colour.

As an artist, I see this colour broken down into hues of dark blue, dark blue green and purple. And I used the medium of worli art to illustrate the grace, beauty and poise of the peacock.

Om

This painting explains the symbolism of Aum by use of colours. According to Hindu philosophy the letter A represents creation, when all existence issued forth from Brahma's golden nucleus. This is represented by the bright flash of white light in the painting, the continuum of sacred yellow is the ‘U’ in the Aum referring to Vishnu, the God of the middle who preserves this world by balancing Brahma on a Lotus Plant above himself, and the encroaching darkness is the ‘M’, the final part of the cycle of existence, when Vishnu falls asleep and Shiva has to breathe in thereby signalling the end of existence.

There was a certain sense of serendipity around this painting... I guess there still is! I did not really plan for the colours to be so symbolic for Om. Instead this is my personal view of what Om would look like as a painting. And then later, I was told that it’s a good translation of the symbolism of Om and this is how he explained it!

Bodh Gaya

In case you are wondering, I decided to name my previous painting 'The Flames of Wrath'. Thank you Deepti miss for your suggestion! :)

And now for my next painting.... I had long wanted to paint my idea of enlightenment, but everyday the form it should take would change. So I decided to wait until I hit upon just the right notes. All I knew was that the painting would be done in Blue and Violet hues in keeping with Eastern Philosophy and colour symbolism.

And then when I decided to do a series based on the Indian sub-continent, it all came together! I would do one on Buddha. But how would I compose the painting? Did I want to do a 'realist' painting amidst all the abstracts? I always do extensive research on my themes before I start painting. And so I started my research on the internet on Buddha and his philosophy.

Seeing all the magnificent statues, sculptures and paintings on Buddhy lying down, I knew I wanted to do something similar, but in an abstract style. So I started with a simple and loosely done charcoal sketch of Buddha lying down on a canvas that was 5ft x 4ft. As soon as I started, I knew I may have taken on too much! The Canvas was massive and demanded more than just a Buddha lying down. Along the way, I painted layers of blue and purple to signify enlightenment. while still letting the Buddha show through. And then I decided to include a part of the Avalokiteshwara Mantra, 'Om Mani Padme Hum'

According to the 14th Dalai Lama, '.... the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha'. I came across the above in Wiki, and to me, this embodies the pathway to enlightenment. I chose Hum to be the syllable to go into my painting since this translates into 'Wisdom'.... and eventually the Bodhi tree, again symbolic of wisdom and the tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment, slowly made their way into my painting!

...........And it became Bodh Gaya....

Untitled painting - opinions and comments?

This painting has been in the works for 3 years now.....the upcoming exhibition gave me the final impetus to finish it! I am not really sure what to call it. A few options that came to mind are Rage, Wrath of a Woman, Righteous Fury.... any suggestions?

I'll tell you what inspired it (other than my occasional need to vent!!). Silappatikaram is one of the 5 Great Epics in Tamil Literature. It was penned by the prince poet Ilando Adigal (I hope I spelled that right!) from the Chera Dynasty. He may have built upon an existing folk lore, but the epic is regarded as a work of Tamil genius. It is a fascinating story and alludes to Ionian(from Greece and Rome), Israeli, Egyptian, Arabian, Chinese and South East Asian influences on Tamil culture, from extensive trade relations. Unlike the Kingdoms of the Indo Gangetic plains, the Dravidakam kingdoms had a maritime culture and hence had extensive trade and diplomatic relations with other far away kingdoms.

The story revolves around the central female character of Kannagi who was married to Kovalan, a rich merchant in the Chola capital of Puhar. Kovalan takes up with Madhavi, a court dancer, with whom he moves in. They have a daugher, Manimegalai, too. Eventually he realises the error of his ways, splits up with Madhavi and reunites with Kannagi. By this point he has lost all of his wealth, having squandered it on Madhavi. They decide to leave Puhar and move to Madurai to start afresh.

Kannagi tasks Kovalan with selling her anklet (Silambu) for seed capital to start a new business in Madurai. He goes into city of Madurai and finds a goldsmith who is willing to buy it from Kovalan. Unknowing to both Kannagi and Kovalan, there is a search on for the Madurai queen's stolen anklet. the Goldsmith takes the anklet and brings Kovalan before the king who immediately orders for Kovalan's execution, without a trial. He is immediately killed. Kannagi hears of this and immediately comes to court. She breaks open the anklet the king believe's is the queen's and shows them that the anklet contains rubies, where the queen's contained pearls. In her fury, Kannagi tears out a breast and curses the entire city of Madurai to burn. Due to her chastity and righteousness, her curse becomes reality and the entire city, except for the old, the very young and the disabled, burns down.

The story continues for a bit after this, but I will not go into that detail..... because this is where my painting comes in. I must have read this about 10 to 15 years ago. But the sheer drama of the story stayed with me and was the first topic I thought of when I started painting abstracts! The painting, with broad sweeps of the reds and yellows, portrays the rage and righteous fury that Kannagi feels upon hearing of her husband's death.

So.... any suggestions on names? :) I am stuck!

The Palanquin Bearers - I decided to name my painting after the poem that inspired me to paint it. There are few such poems that made such a strong impression on me, specially since I must have been in 6th or 7th grade when I did this in school. 


Lightly, O lightly we bear her along,
She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Softly, O softly we bear her along,
She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,
She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride.Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing,We bear her along like a pearl on a string. 

The palanquin Bearers are carrying a bride to her wedding and since the ultimate aim of the parents in ancient India was to get their daughters married and happily situated as soon as was possible, carrying a bride in a Palanquin on her wedding day was considered the ultimate privilege. Also, in ancient India it wasn't uncommon to find women married off at as young an age as 14 or 15. I've tried to portray this through a much younger, almost girlish bride.

Also, it is typical for a bride to dip her hands in ... and make an impression on the walls of the house she is going to enter. This is symbolic of the fertility that she brings in and the mark that she is about to make on the household. I've recreated the fresco of a well lived-in house in India where rains are often and hence common to see moss, mud tracks and smoke tracks on walls. 

Working up to my first solo exhibition!

So........ after so many years of staunchly refusing to even consider blogging, I give in after all! :)

My first solo exhibition is due to start on the 11th October 2012. I am VERY excited about it and counting down to the big day! This is one of the paintings that will be exhibited. I've completed 6 so far, 6 are works in progress and another 6 are just ideas rattling around in my head.

All the PR is ready to go.... the press release is complete and has been emailed to the gallery and my website is nearly up and running... can't think of anything else that needs doing except for getting at least 15 of those paintings ready by then!