In a new exhibition of Jayasri Burman, titled ‘The Whisper of Water, The Song of Stars’ on view till February 25 (preview January 17), at Art Alive Gallery, Delhi, the senior artist explores a multitude of mediums including artworks with shells, river soil, cowries among other things, pushing the boundaries of her artistic practice.
“In her new body of work, Jayasri explores themes of ecology, the power of femininity and complex narratives deeply rooted in cultural symbolism and myth while gradually moving towards a fresh creative visual language,” says Sunaina Anand, founder-director, Art Alive Gallery.
Burman’s artistic journey straddles tradition, retold through a modern perspective that echoes the concerns of today, weaving together the colourful threads of ancient mythology, the alluring glory of nature, and the unyielding power of women.
Moving beyond mere imitation of the mythologies, she infuses these age-old tales with her own personal experiences and the exploding desires of the unconscious from a contemporary perspective.
Excerpts from a conversation:
Q. Please trace what is traditional and what is modern in her choice of art materials in the context of the present exhibition -- cowries and shells?
A. I think, for me, everything is traditional and everything is modern. It only depends on how it is perceived through the eyes of the art connoisseur, the critics and the artist themselves. As an artist, when you bring out any subject, you break the rules. For instance, fishes, traditionally or realistically are found in water but in my visual language, they take myriad forms- sometimes ganesha sometimes forms of crocodiles, sometimes some other metaphor. This is the creative freedom we artists are blessed with. Having roots in the real world, we create a world of our own fantasy.
For an artist, there are no boundaries of traditional or modern. The cowries that I have recently incorporated in my visual language in a very different manner is rooted in the concept of germination. Cowries are symbolic of germination, it is endless like the eternal cycle of life. What I have done is taken the motif and re-interpreted them, as flowers, as fruits, as the perpetual cycle of life. I do not categorize these material choices in either traditional or modern.
Q. Please explain the title of the exhibition
A. The title of the upcoming exhibition at Art Alive Gallery is The Whisper of Water, The Song of Stars. My childhood has passed growing along the ghats of river Ganga, in Kolkata, West Bengal. I have always been surrounded by water bodies – rivers, ponds, and the sea. We used to visit Puri and Digha very often in my childhood. The smell of cowries and shells found on the seashores, the smell of the sea always enticed me and made its way to the depths of my heart. My emotions and creative thought processes flowed, I wanted to capture all in my art but always found paucity of time. Suddenly, when I started working towards this show, in 2023-24, it all came to me.
The sound of the sea, when the waves hit the shore, the eternal life cycle of cowries, their link with germination, it all came in my practice. This tune of water whispered creativity to me. The Song of Stars refers to the song of life, reverberating from the riverbed that harbours the depths of our existence. The sound of the water, the ocean and the cosmic universe forms the core of our life and the basis of my new body of work. Harmoniously co-existing amidst stars and oceans, my world of creativity is depicted in the title.
Q. Please explain your aesthetic shift from the earlier figurative works to a new direction
A. Life keeps moving in its own direction, full of ups and downs, highs and lows. A person is born to complete the cycle of life and live to see the world transform around us. I have always been doing figurative works and I will continue to do so as it is an important part of my practice. But, along with that, I feel there has been a growth in my artistic practice, pursuing still life, expanding my visual language to incorporate new elements, it has been a journey of decades, not something that happened overnight.
My practice is like feeding into a visual diary of my painterly life, I have written many stories, yet there is much to do. An artist should not be judged on the basis of just one body of work, an artist’s life is full of ups and downs, their thoughts and growth which get representation in their work. For instance, the smell of cowries, raised emotions within me which have culminated into this body of work. Through the medium of my work and the kind of work I am doing, it is moving in a new direction. I see cowries, interpret the ecosystem of life, of flora and fauna. Life is a constant tale of evolution and transformation which I have attempted to capture in my new body of work.