Earth, water, fire, air, and space are the five elemental energies that reside inside each one of us. It is these five elements that form the basis of this week’s watercolor artwork called Panchamahabhuta – The Five Great Elements. As in the title, these five elements are called “Panchamahabhuta” in Sanskrit and compose not only the universe, but the human body and mind.
The artwork
Each element represents a force of nature as well as a potential and quality of the human mind. The mind’s ability to serve as the ground for all experience is the quality of earth; its continuity and adaptability is water; its clarity and capacity to perceive is fire; its continuous movement is air and its unlimited emptiness is space.
These elements have been visually illustrated in the artwork along with corresponding text written in stylized calligraphy. Each element has also been represented as a Sanskrit syllable on prayer flags in synonymous colors.
We can discover our true potential by exploring and navigating through the terrain of these five elements that we are composed of. We can heal ourselves by acknowledging, aligning and connecting with these fundamental energies, thereby leading our lives with wisdom and grace.
The Unalome is both a Buddhist and a Hindu spiritual symbol. It represents the path to freedom or enlightenment, or in simpler terms, your life’s path. The sign consists of three parts: the spiral, the swirl, and the dots at the end.
The spirals represent the twists and turns in life.With these ups and downs and unexpected encounters, one becomes more and more aware. The spiral represents the state before one spiritually awakens. After the spiral comes the swirl, which gets smaller and smaller and turns into a straight line. When you are aware of your thoughts, you have more focus and clarity and the road becomes less winding. The straight line is the moment of enlightenment or peace and harmony. When one gets out of the swirl, he or she suddenly see everything very clearly. Like a straight line. The road is pure, that’s where one is free and reaches enlightenment. The dots represent death, or the moment we fade into nothing. They also represent the uncertainty of life.
The lotus flower symbolizes how we can overcome all the obstacles on our journey to enlightenment and flourish. The Buddha is shown seated on a Lotus flower with a compass forming His halo. This symbolizes the path navigated by the compass of meditation towards freedom and enlightenment which can be achieved by harmonizing the 7 chakras depicted in the artwork. The trees represent growth and progress thereafter.
The Buddhist Unalome is a visual metaphor for the journey towards enlightenment. It inspires us to carve out our own path, which is unique to each one of us. Even though the journey as well as the path is uniquely different for each one of us, ultimately, the destination is the same – liberation.
I know I have been off the radar for a long time but I have a valid reason for that! The last few months have been extremely busy and exhilarating ones for me and I am super excited to share with you all that I recently had the pleasure of holding my very first solo art exhibition!
It was an incredibly challenging yet invigorating experience for me and nothing I have ever done before can match the thrill of seeing a gallery full of my work. Seeing my pieces on display in a radiant, well-lit space gave me a feeling of elation like none other. I never imagined it would feel so out of the world!
My artworks were on display at Dys Art Gallery, Siripuram Junction in Visakhapatnam from 15 April to 21 April 2022. The exhibit titled “Dragons and Beyond” was launched on the 15th of April 2022 and showcased a collection of 26 original works in all, which have been inspired by various muses, including my all-time favorite, the dragon.
Many of the artworks on display are works from earlier years while others are more recent as I wanted to put up a good mix from the past as well as the present. Most of my works belong to the genre of conceptual art and constitute my way of expressing not just what I feel and believe in, but also sharing the joy and pleasure I get from painting.
As mentioned earlier, the exhibit featured 26 original works for display as well as sale, ranging from small-scale paintings to medium sized ones. I had showcased three different series, namely the Dragon Series, the Navrasas series and the Lockdown Saga series.
Each piece in the collection has its own story to tell and a message to convey. It is my sincere endeavor and attempt not only to emote through my work, but also to send out a social message through my art. I hope my viewers can feel through my paintings what I feel and comprehend the deeper meaning behind each and every piece every time they look at one.
I also had the honor and privilege of being featured in the newspaper, The Hindu, along with my work. Sharing an image of the article and a few snapshots of the collection as well as the show.
The last few months leading up to this solo show have been a roller coaster ride, one full of mixed emotions and ups and downs, but in all, it has been a fabulous learning experience in terms of fine-tuning my creative process and growing as an artist. This was a life-time opportunity for me, a golden one at that and has been a long time coming. In fact, it’s been a life-long dream, and to see my dream becoming a reality is absolutely thrilling! I am grateful to the gallerists, Ms. Gladys Rathi and Mr. Krishna Rathi for providing me with this opportunity and special thanks to my dear husband for discovering this place..couldn’t have done it without you!
The Art Dungeon 