These works seek to convey, through a unique visual experience, the portrait of the current times that we are going through. I find the fact that man drew and painted some 60,000 years ago when he had to struggle just to survive extremely hopeful. Thus, though the inherent theme of ‘Portrait of a time’ seeks to explore environmental issues exacerbated by human behaviour and greed, the visual experience of the series retains a meditative quality.
My visits to culturally and aesthetically rich Buddhist paintings at Ajanta as well as Bhimbetka caves have significantly influenced the expressions of these works.
Portrait of a time I to V
These works were inspired by an instance of a herd of elephants in China embarking on migration journey of an unprecedented scale in 2021. The reason for the migration remains a mystery. I saw an image of the elephants lying on the ground cuddled up like babies, exhausted from a long trek. This was also believed to be unusual for fully grown elephants. That image stayed with me for a long time and gave rise to the idea of a series of works centred around this majestic species of animals, and their plight in the current times.
These collage works explore the themes of man-animal conflict, hunting for ivory, a thinning of natural habitats and a resultant decline in the population of the herds, highly questionable government endorsed practices such as culling, among others. They seek to create a cave painting-like visual experience, and depict thismagnificent species walking towards what probably is their inevitable fate.
The concept of inevitability has always fascinated me. Often, I find myself contemplating the effects of actions or inactions, death, the existential meaning of life, n and so on. I believe that the sombre cave painting-like visual effect of the current works stems from such contemplation.
Portrait of a time VI
The idea for the painting was born when I came across an interesting article in the National Geographic magazine about what a unique species of animal sea horses is. The idea of a male creature giving birth to the babies and looking after them seemed really intriguing. The article delved into how the sea horses are being subject to a continuous process of capture and killing due to mythological ideas and medicinal properties culturally attached to the species. This work is done primarily in watercolour. It showcases sea horses floating across a seemingly serene green-blue background. But if you look closely, you will see that these sea horses are clutching onto something to stay afloat. They are clutching onto plastic. And inscribed on the plastic threads are the words “this used to be weed”. This is how we see how this painting is a story of portrait of a time, a transformation of the oceans from serene, clean reservoirs of water to gigantic garbage pits.
Portrait of a time VII:
In this work, we see a group of deer-like creatures gazing at the viewer, with traces of fire in the background. It carries an ominous tone, and depicts the creeping dangers that await these animals.
