‘Made in India
It is evident that many artists derived the formal devices from their indigenous art such as folk, primitive & miniature, especially in India
The recent series of paintings "Made in India”, are largely inspired from tantric paintings of Rajasthan, 17th – 19th AD., where beautiful imageries are used to talk about cosmogony or creation of world along with text containing slokas. Though many people understand tantric art in the sense of erotic shown symbolically, where as I am trying to show the idea of "creation", which also is what an artist tries to do. My paintings emphasize the feminine aspect of "prakriti" through the female protagonist, whereas tantric art shows divine Brahma,(the creator) and Vishnu, the protector. There are much more significant symbols which I am going to further mutilate and explore to cater my visual space. However, I’ve tried to amalgamate both my personal style n derivatives of tantric imagery to make an indigenous style that is "Made in India
My works are a reflection of the “self” policing the worldly acts of creatures. The “Self” is often described as id, ego, superego or the alter ego. Through these works, I tried to express the constant dialogue between “self”, the soul, or the inner “me” and ‘others’ which inevitably possess ego. As we live in a chaotic world full of ego clashes and there is a constant search for peace with ourselves and the world around, we often fail to hear the voice within. My recent work is a symbolic representation of this conflict, a trans-temporal phenomenon, where I have used animals and birds as metaphors for the “other” who often try conquering the time and space. The cock confronting the serpent exemplifies such conventional habit of the rivalry common throughout all ages.
Nirmala Biluka
