Artworks that celebrate women

While many of us working ladies cooked and cooked during the covid pandemic with pleasure or pain, it was indeed necessary to take the creative car back on the road and bring out all that was cooked with lines, paints, surface and thoughts in the studios of Aiman Arastu, Farzona Khanoon,Jaya Baheti, Koeli Mukherjee Ghose, B. Padma Reddy, Palakshi Das, Piu Mahapatra, Pratibha TS, Sabita Lakshmanan, Sahithi Kalyanam, Saraswati Lingampally, Sravanthi Juluri, Sriparna Dutta and Sweta Chandra.

Aiman Arastu, makes incisions on papers to arrive at most intricate mandalas reflecting nature either in its floral or crysatlline form.

Farzona Khanoon's, protagonist fights from the womb for her right to live. The womb is her safe house for as long as can be. Her symbolism with color is a predominant component of her canvases.

Jaya Baheti 's, search for the heaven on earth leads us to the nostalgic track of raw earthy roads, Primeval forms emerge in a rural backdrop of domesticity and relationship conundrum.

Koeli Mukherjee Ghose's repertoire of her own food photography during the pandemic reflects the conflict in juxtaposing her own labour and creativity in real life.

B Padma Reddy says, "My work, the human mind is a store House. Mine seems to me like an alien...yet a constant accompaniment - troubling, tormenting and curbing, among other things. The complexities are amazing and mysterious. The astounding revelations of the way I think, the labyrinth of multifarious activity that runs through is not only bewildering but also frightening.. print making is solely an expression for me that helps negotiate and navigate my concerns invalidating the so called set norms of my social and cultural placement."

Palakshi Das, brings back a character into the wilderness the eternal nature lover, now a lady dressed in saree, casual and formal clothes her colours are in the shades of natural dyes as opposed to industrialising aesthetics.

Piu Mahapatra's work from her recent works 'Within' 'I' is a conversations with herself, she says 'We sometimes talk to ourselves...But when alone, we try to engage ourselves in a conversation. This series came out from a state of isolation and in constant search of another company while being locked in. '

Sabita Lakshmanan, spills a strong perfume of solo woman encompassed in her struggle to bridge the gap often held together in a crisscross of stitches.

Sahiti Kalyanam, juxtaposes her new media expression and her canvas paintings. Her experimental work with the human body presumption and identity upholds a relevant picture of contemporary experiences.

Saraswati Lingampally' s sense of embellishment manifests into a fairytale of men and women, they are the eternal Radha and Krishna in their conceptual sense finding themselves in delivering mundane chores a constant process of reconciling notion and events in daily life.

Sravanti Juluri' s abstract expressionism is driven by her colorist sensibilities, she situates herself in the domain of spirituality each time and posits herself as the Shakti performer.

Sriparna Dutta brings out culture specific objects and expressions from her memory trunk and juxtaposes charcoal smudges in the most analogous of spirit, creating an escape route for the eye and the mind. The Smokey spread transforms the familiar surrounding into a moment of darkness.

Sweta Chandra's paintings explores the dimensional aspects of the range of the vision and a dynamic play of bringing out the perspective that cannot be seen at a glass. A voyeuristic journey into dynamism of space, defining a contrast between the mighty urbanism and delicate natural vegetation and creepers. Her palette also juxtaposes pastel with vibrant hues in reflecting her intent.