A five-year artistic meditation on feminine energy culminates in ‘Ekaa: The One’, a multifaceted exhibition and festival by artist Beena Unnikrishnan. The event, underway at My Bungalow in Teynampet, presents her collection of 64 yogini paintings alongside wisdom talks, music, and sacred conversations.
“I worked in a lot of men-oriented industries, so I always thought I’m very masculine,” said Beena. “This journey has made me realise that it’s more of a feminine that was there with me.”
The exhibition aims to move beyond physical gender, exploring metaphysical energies. Beena believes success requires a balance of both masculine and feminine forces. “Mastering is about structure. As we are very emotional, we often don’t know how to put a structure for that. We need to manifest that structure in this world,” she explained. Her goal is that “even a girl or a boy should know that gender is just a physical concept.”
The paintings, created without reference to existing scriptures, emerged from intuition. “There’s no reference available. I painted with whatever was there on my mind. I painted the energies of these 64 yoginis.” The process was not without challenge. She sometimes could not paint for days. “You can place a canvas, put a dot on it, and keep roaming around that just to feel the energy,” she described.
She completed the final piece in December 2020 after an 11-day fast and period of silence (Mauna). To detach, she had another artist physically touch the paintings before she finished them.
When asked which yogini she resonates with most, Beena identified Bala Tripurasundari. “She’s a child, a baby. So I felt being a child is what makes one feel grounded, egoless…That is the message I would like to spread to people. Be a child.”
The festival also addresses the economic realities of art. She believes that artists who struggle with valuation require a bridge. “For me, every painting is an emotion. When somebody asks me how much I will sell it for, it becomes difficult for me. That’s the case for every artist,” she said, adding that it is hard for the artist themselves to market their works.
On Thursday, the exhibition opened with 64 women lighting a lamp together. The event is an immersive experience curated by the Kankali Foundation. It features daily wisdom talks with spiritual leaders like Mathaji Pravrajika Dharmatmaprana, who noted, “To empower feminine is to empower humanity. Without Shakti, Shiva is still.” Sacred Conversations with figures such as Nathella Ananda Padmanabhan and thematic concerts by artistes like Srilekha Parthasarathy further explore the divine feminine.
The exhibition runs until September 1 at My Bungalow, 40 Eldams Road, Teynampet, from 10 am to 7 pm. Today, from 4.30 pm-7 pm, Sacred Conversations with Beena Unnikrishnan, Kalpana Sonthalia, and Shreya Ramnath, will be held.