Goddesses, Mixed medium on unstretched canvas. 40" X 60"
India is an ongoing dialogue with me. A 23 year-old yoga practice, an appreciation for film, contemporary writers, the poetry of Tagore and owning a business in Delhi ultimately led me to her doorstep. It's a travel business having nothing to do with the breath, the life-force, the antiquity, the soul of this contradictory culture. And yet, it is this timeless beauty that enters my entire being whenever I step off the plane and once again journey into India's paradise of opposites. In my mind, the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore puts into words my experiences whenever I travel throughout the country. Writing in the 19th and 20th centuries, his language, psychology and secularism is universal, expanding beyond time and borders. I almost drink the same sensuality of color, texture, fragrance, pain, light and spirit and yet I do believe that a Westerner can never really process and understand India. But I embrace it and discover sexuality in the temple sculptures and motifs, and comfort in the gods, particularly Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. In large part I celebrate Indian women, women who wear the most colorful, ornate saris and adorn themselves with gemstones while working in the fields or dancing along with the tabla. An Indian journalist friend of mine once told me that all this embellishment of clothing and love of music and dance is ultimately a way to lift the woman's spirit, life still being very hard, particularly in rural areas.
This is what manifests in my studio when I return home: I try to reproduce the centuries-old oxidation on the sandstone temple walls through the method of stain painting on raw canvas. The brick surfaces that I have recreated often define my figures. I draw and calligraph with sand. I use hand-painted Indian papers, acrylic paint, metal leaf, gels and mediums, to further emphasize color and texture. I draw and paint symbols and motifs to mirror my own psyche, dreams and conflicts and use them in a contemporary visual language.
This is what manifests in my studio when I return home: I try to reproduce the centuries-old oxidation on the sandstone temple walls through the method of stain painting on raw canvas. The brick surfaces that I have recreated often define my figures. I draw and calligraph with sand. I use hand-painted Indian papers, acrylic paint, metal leaf, gels and mediums, to further emphasize color and texture. I draw and paint symbols and motifs to mirror my own psyche, dreams and conflicts and use them in a contemporary visual language.