Yearning
Pieces of My Self-Portrait
2023
Available
I don’t draw or paint figures. However, the figures I drew, collaged, and painted in the series are my intuitive exploration, representing instances that were significant to me from childhood to motherhood. I needed to embed them with mandalas to narrate my stories.
This series became my first body of work as I emerged from the creative block I experienced in 2022.
I felt vulnerable, but it was freeing.
Yearning
It was an evening during the monsoon season. I was sitting with my legs crisscrossed on our cracked black oxide kitchen floor while my mom was preparing dinner. I would have been six or seven years old then. The heavy rainfall thrashing our rooftops, the incessant croaking of frogs, and the flash of lightning and thunderstorms made me worry about my dad, who often traveled for work. The darkness intensified my fear when the power went off. I wished my dad had come home early. My mom consoled me by saying everything would be okay, and she was right. My dad reached home safe and sound.
It has been over three decades since my dad passed, but I still yearn for the lost love. The feeling of losing a loved one can affect us on a deeper level, but one of the ways to secure ourselves from the fleeting darkness is to live and re-live in those joyful moments that connect us.
The repetition of motifs on a mandala symbolizes the pattern of memories or experiences we cherish that help us feel connected.
Medium
Mixed Media on cradled board
Image Size
6" H X 12" W X 1.5" D
The artwork is original and signed. The painting is varnished for protection, wired, and ready to hang. No framing is required.