Tattva Exhibition

Hey all ,
As you all are well aware I had an exhibition at the Jai Bharat Centre in association with Zarah Delhi .
The theme of the exhibition was Tattva , broadly classified into Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Spirit and Shadow
The paintings I exhibited were called Fire and I am the torch bearer
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About the two paintings

Fire – 9’’X12’’

Mixed Media ( Charcoal , Ink , Oil Pastels , Acrylic ) on Acid Free Australian Made drawing paper

I Am The Torch Bearer – 12’’X16’’

Mixed Media ( Charcoal , Ink , Oil Pastels , Acrylic ) on Acid free cotton content water color paper

         The Woman in these paintings is a metaphor .The moments that these two paintings capture her in, are different. She imbues the tattvas, she calls to them and derives strength from them. These paintings tell a story woven around these very tattvas .The woman is a widow born centuries before, a woman who dared to love. She has a fire burning inside of her that gives her strength to fight all odds, even as she trembles and shivers as if hit by a gust of wind and a wave of water at the same time. When society tortures her and attempts to rob her of her fiery spirit, she takes refuge in the arms of mother earth. Its waters in the form of River Ganga help her take on this journey.

     “The woman in these paintings reminds me of someone who came out the other side of the pyre, alive and beautiful and whole, young and old at once

Is this exquisite woman poised on the knife-edge of tragedy or has the knife been through her many times and blunted itself? Are those dying embers in her eyes, ashes of resignation on her lips, or does the fire have half a mind to let itself be rekindled? Her eyes could be tired from weeping, bruised from assault, or that could be the protective kohl signifying her hope and the passion that cannot be stifled. They have burned her at the stake to quell her. But what burns within her is fire too, the fire of love and daring to love. The good fire and the bad one cannot quell each other, rather they stoke each other’s flames leading to uncontrollable destruction. So she quits this war of flames and turns to Ma Ganga for healing. She escapes into the lap of the waves or maybe she chooses to be embraced, engulfed, liberated by water?”

-Ms. Mayalakshmi Rao on the two paintings (Friend, Author and Art critic) 

Lines that speak about the painting – “Fire”

“Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
Lay your body down”- (The song is by Stephen Stills, 1970)

Lines that speak about the painting “I am the torch bearer”

“Tell me torchbearer, whose light do you hold there? 

Alone on the shore a brave wayfarer walks, undaunted,
against the forceful wind.
Would you light the path for her so she can make her way
safely to the crossing point before she wearies?
Or would you rather dim yourself
so the mediocre don’t feel unsettled in the glare?”

- Torchbearer by Ms. Mayalakshmi Rao, 2012

It was a fun filled 4 day exhibit