Maha Durga Painting

Kushal Bastakoti For years, I was intrigued by how the symbolic elements illustrated in Hinduism have direct influence in our social life. I followed Hinduism since birth, however, growing up it made me curious about how Hindu culture portrayed social lifestyle. I had read stories in Hindu holy books about human life origination and the life cycle. As a result, I started researching and illustrating it in my artworks. My artwork titled “Mata” explores the identity of Hindu Goddesses Kali, Durga and Ganga along with the symbolic elements representing them. In Hinduism, Goddesses are regarded as the heavenly portrayal of the universe and they are reciprocal to their male partners. They are associated with virtues like beauty, emotions, love, sexuality, motherhood, innovativeness, patience and fertility. Referencing the images used in ancient Hindu scriptures and holy books, I have created this series of art. I created a collection of large scale work that represents the female deities along with symbolic elements that provides their identity. I started with charcoal on a masonite board for figure illustrations. I have created this artwork with black and white color composition as illustrated in the ancient Hindu culture related books. I started with the first layer of acrylic white color on the masonite board to create the white background, then using sand paper I smoothed the surface to use charcoal and charcoal powder. The whole surface was then covered with charcoal powder with soft cloth and used graphite for figure illustrations. On the top, I used charcoal sticks to flush out the forms and then rendered the dark part using my hand and soft cloth. I highlighted trident and hands to make them look more powerful and strong. Through the representation of these sacred yet powerful female figures, I want to share my cultural background, specifically as it relates to gender equality in Hinduism. The story of feminine deities advocating power, strength, intelligence and equality are portrayed in this series.