Description
With muted tones, controlled shading and the blotting out of any light, the artist wants us to appreciate the implicit: the power of love. We are to engage with the goddess with comprehension and joy. And the concept of the Whole is put before us at all times. So here is Radha, childhood friend and lover of Krishna, in a fuller form as Earth Mother – slightly paunchy, full breasted, a milky cow by her side. It is a voluptuous image, inherently and powerfully erotic. The faint outline of a peacock feather is the only sign of Krishna. But the focus is Radha. Radha is a woman in her entirety – lover, friend, sister, daughter, mother. She is also a wife, but not Krishna’s. The power and purity of her love is such that it transcends both social requirements and human frailties such as marriage or jealousy. Radha is complete unto herself. And the love that radiates from her is equally complete. It is, in fact, a celebration - in this case, of Krishna, asking nothing from him - not marriage, nor fidelity. It is love that is spiritually and physically full - unconditional, eternal and liberating.
About the Series:
This artwork is part of the “Sister Misfortune” series, through which the artist, Smruthi Gargi Eswar, narrates lesser-known stories from Indian mythology, while reflecting on the narrative surrounding women in our culture. Various Indian goddesses (devis) are depicted with a refreshing artistic lens.
In India, there is a constant burden on women to be “Devi-like”. Through this series, the artist attempts a reverse deification of the goddesses, making them appear like real women, in a real world. The series is an exploration not just of duality, but of multiplicity. It compels us to question our attitudes - women towards themselves, men towards women. How does the idea of a goddess coexist within every woman? How do we, as a society, so casually dismiss, disrespect, disregard, and defile in our everyday existence, those who we have bedecked with gold and enshrined in a temple?