In her new painting, Priyanka Paul perpetually rendered motherhood in a traditional Indian way.
In modern times, on the one hand, the concept of equality for women is loud and clear. But women are being humiliated now and then. From one side, society is talking about the dignity of women. On the other side, the same society perceives women as commodities. A lot of controversies are prevalent around womanhood. Perhaps among the different characters played by a woman in the community, motherhood is the only role beyond any debate.
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According to Priyanka Paul, a painter from Kolkata, Indian traditional art forms are mature enough to depict the core human values in an unrivaled way. Although Indian traditional art forms are not being practiced on a broader scale nowadays, to her, it has no parallel in terms of humanness and expressionism.
Her clarity of thought on the art form became evident when asked about her most recent project. Priyanka’s latest work tried to depict the ‘Supremacy of Mother.’
Priyanka’s words made it apparent that she realizes the position and importance of a mother in society.
According to her, in different paintings mother has been tried to be depicted from different perspectives.
“Sometimes, you will see the mother as an ever-loving fellow. Sometimes the mother is depicted as doing all the thankless jobs for her family. She is intimidated by the family members. I think all those are partial depictions of the character of a mother,” she said.
She added, “But if you look into Indian classical Sanskrit mythology and traditional Indian Paintings, you will find a different perspective of a mother.”
In her latest work, she tried to depict the mother as the most influential person in anyone’s life. To deliver the message, she has chosen the ‘Damodar Lila,’ a famous incident in the life of Lord Sri Krishna, as the background for her work named, ‘Supremacy of Mother-Damodar Lila.’
The story goes like this, one day, when the mischievous Sri Krishna had broken the pot of butter, his mother Yashoda was able to catch Sri Krishna and tied him with a rope to punish him for his misdeed. But the lad was so powerful that he uprooted two tall-big trees to make further mischief.
In India, people worship Lord Sri Krishna as the most potent fellow, the supreme Lord. According to the Indian scriptures, no one can tie up Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna symbolizes omnipotence.
But this fact does not hold for one person, his mother, Yashoda. Effortlessly she has been able to catch, tie up and punish his Omni powerful son for his misdeed.
In this painting, Priyanka tried to depict the existence of a mother whose might is greater than the almighty Lord. The mother is so selfless in Love that only she can chase and tie the most powerful fellow in the Universe with little or no effort. The power and position of a mother have no parallel.
According to her, to depict the total influence of a mother in one’s life, you have to put Sri Krishna and his mother in one frame. Even the Lord bows down before his mother. Because of a great mother, the Lord becomes the Lord. Such is the greatness of a mother.
Women as mothers can change society for a better and sustainable future because the seeds of future growth are in the laps of mothers.
When asked about the time and place where Priyanka will exhibit the work, she said it would be displayed during an exhibition in Mumbai this November. The details will be available on her website.
