Butterfly Island Painting

Painting emerged as a natural result of my involvement in the world of dance, choreography and the performing arts. Dance is visual and I found the medium of painting as a fascinating parallel expression, of what words and bodies could not always immediately release. I began painting over seven years ago, while studying in Taiwan. It was a sudden creative release that emerged through interactions with artists I met from the Czech Republic and South Africa. I grew up in India being taught that art and drawing needed to look a certain way and as a child I never considered myself an artist. But through my exposure to contemporary dance and art in Taiwan, I was fascinated by the many possibilities of artistic expression. My art embodies expressions of my curiosity with people, places, nature and human experience. Usually my paintings are done with acrylics as I love the ease of flexibility in using this medium. My creative process in art is often like choreography with a strongly volatile and changing development. I have worked on a few different projects so far. The first was a series of paintings titled ‘Dream Realms’ that were the inspiration for a 40-minute dance production comprising of three different pieces of contemporary choreography performed at the Taipei National University of the Arts. On returning to India, I did a solo exhibition of paintings based on impressions of my life in Taipei over four years, titled ‘Reflections’. Other inspiration for works are whimsical musings and imaginations of scenes and interactions with people in India and through travels in Europe (some shown in a group exhibition with Mirage Art Gallery, Kolkata). The most recent paintings are a set of textural works forming part of a series called ‘Acts of Being’ that explore uncomfortable moments and their resolution.