Nitha Stephen

Artwork title

Calendar Art Lives On

Expressive form

Painting

Artist statement

My artwork explores the concept of mythology. It introduces enigmatic characters from Indian mythology from the rich history of traditional India. My artwork is a cultural frame work that showcases my exploration of the material practice of painting. Personally, this artwork relates and connects to my culture.

The conceptual practice aspect of this artwork is about introducing the main gods from Indian mythology to a cross-cultural society. My aim is not the use mythological figures or images in a religious context but as an exploration of history and culture. Within the art world, there is an assumption that truthful, academic art is calendar art. In fact, there are not as many calendar arts today due to the age of cellphones, laptops and artists as well as audiences focusing on postmodern notions of challenging traditions being a key focus of practice. This makes calendar art not as important. The artist Raja Ravi Varma was a famous Indian painter and artist who has greatly influenced my conceptual and material practice. He inspired both my material and conceptual practice because he was a very traditional and cultural painter. He created works that incorporated interpretations of Indian mythological gods while also adapting to the Indian painting styles and traditions in his artworks.

The materials I have used in my artwork are a thick cardboard as my painting surface, acrylic paint painted in sections with colours such as light blue, red, yellow, dark and light green representing the traditional colours of the Indian mythology. I have also added gold and silver to give a royal finish. A marker was used to highlight the features and shapes of the traditional designs.