MODERN MINIATURE
When I visited Rajasthan, I decided to produce a series of illustrations based on miniature Madhubani painting, which is the most popular art form. Because the paintings were created to depict the customs, events, and beliefs of a bygone era, I felt it would be interesting to compare them to those of today's culture.
Campfire
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Sometimes, you look at a painting and you get lost in it. You see the details they portray and you see a story form in your mind - the war cries, the noise on the streets, the hustle and bustle of the town - you’re transported to their times. Isn’t this what we paint for? What we want to convey with our work? To put our story on paper with shades and landscapes. To let the colors flow over an empty canvas - populating the onlooker with our perspective - our Story. This is what I’ve tried to convey through this illustration.
The story I’ve put through is one where a group of girls are having the time of their lives without caring about anything else in the world, around a campfire. The location is Pushkar, Rajasthan - where wives of Kings and Soldiers would jump into lit pyres to save themselves from the atrocities a Widow has to face - the concept of Sati or Johar. These are two extremes right here. The intensity and the purpose of fire burned during the Johar is so different from the campfire. How time changes the situations for a group of people, in this case women.
Me and myself
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The sheer existence of all of life exists on one basic phenomenon, reproduction. Yet, our species, the so called evolved ones still somehow manage to put shame to the one thing that is responsible for our being, sex. Different animals have different ways of mating, some mate for life and some have several sexual partners throughout a lifetime. Who’s to decide what is right and what is wrong? A lot of cultures still consider sex and masturabtion to be a taboo, and some even consider gender fluidity, LGBTQ community to be unnatural. Who gets to decide what is natural and what isn't? In a way, we are nature, so isn’t what we do also nature?
Here, in this illustration I’ve tried to show one such topic: masturbation. It is perfectly normal, and even healthy to touch and pleasure yourself. Why consider something so natural to be bad? Just because it gives you pleasure? Well if it does, what’s so wrong with it? Isn’t life about having fun?
Pehla Nasha
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When you're heartbroken, coming out of a relationship and trying to move on, when you're so done, determined and focused on your growth and career, when you're trying to cut off and move as far away as possible from what just happened, when you're trying to figure out what went wrong and in the process how you've created a self-doubt bubble around you and slowly learning to let go, trying to focus on the good things in your life, And then, just when you least expect it, BAAAM! You meet s o m e o n e. Someone you don't know will become so important in your life that you can't imagine life without them:)
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That desire to meet them, hang out with them, and learn everything about them. That intolerance to their pain, even if it's just a headache. That sense of touch when your hands collide during long walks, and those cheesy jokes simply to see them smile. That realisation of I miss you actually feels like when you say it to them. We've all had butterflies, but when you meet this person, butterflies take on a new meaning. It is the most lovely sensation one can have.
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There must be a lot more love stories out there with various beginnings and dramatic endings. You never know when you'll run across that special someone. What has to happen or what you have to go through just to meet that person, and how everything seems to be worth it when you eventually do, and what it truly means when people in love say they want to grow old together. All you need is patience and an open mind.
Just a couple madly in love and nasha who felt aisa pyaar pehli dafa.
A few true believers
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All of us have faith. One kind or other, we all believe in something superior, greater than ourselves. What if people with similar beliefs come together? What happens if all those with the same beliefs come together and align their energies towards it? Is it possible to make things happen just by channelising our energies in one single direction? Can we really make a difference by just believing? This illustration portrays the same. Pure faith, and hence a state of transcendence.
Gacchi Gang
The subject of this illustration is friendship. When soldiers used to go to war, being in a terrible and tight situation, all they must have at the time is their buddies, other troops, and watching them stabbed with swords and arrows must have been unbearable. This epidemic is as harsh as war, and it was only because of my pals that I was able to survive the lockdown in my small town. My best friends a.k.a “Gacchi Gang” passing time on my rooftop and being a support system for each other during difficult times are depicted here.
Imagination
This illustration here depicts my personality. I’ve always been a visual thinker, constantly trying to imagine vivid, hypothetical and almost impossible situations. It makes me feel alive.I believe that every action we do is an expression of ourselves, and by combining the two- design and visualisation,expressing my concepts through animation is what excites me the most.
This illustration here portrays one such imagination where a few fish and I are just floating in front of my eyes, chatting and discussing how different our realms are. The green circular shape behind the character is my eyeball. Depicting that all of this is happening in front of my eyes,and yet not. Green in the background is how calm,soothing and meditative these experiences are for me. Red color of the character represents the adventurous and risky behaviour of the character. Love to try new things and experiences. White hair: very experimental, kind, caring, quirky, fresh.
5 Seconds Window
This one particular time, during my period, I was so frustrated, annoyed, angry and every other word you can think of, that even the tiniest of the things seemed huge and for no apparent reason, made me cry. It’s that hot and spontaneous ride where you don’t care what the world cares and are just rude, mean, so overwhelmed at one moment and like there’s a switch, cool and cheerful the next. It’s that 5 seconds, when the portal or window for a switch, where your good mood takes over the bad mood and looks at her and says that dude you did good now let me take care of the messes that you have created.
The yellow shows the good mood, when all is jolly and no one’s sorry. Along with the leaf, shown as the medallion of peace. Then comes the red, when the colour slowly starts to change into anger and overwhelm. The trident, a medallion portraying power, destruction and extremism.
