Artist Nivedita Mishra remembers her childhood vividly, when she’d enthusiastically dip her fingers into the rice-paste prepared by her mother for rangoli. She would eagerly await traditional festivities at her village of Raksimunda, Odisha, and eagerly await the harvest season of Margasira, when every Thursday, at home, Lakshmi pooja would be performed and rangoli would be designed with numerous motifs, including the lotus flower, conch shell, elephant and fish.
“I remember being appreciated and noticed for my art,” says Mishra. She also recalls being fascinated by stones and arranging them in varied patterns. “I would gaze at them for hours, finding in them unexpected tints and tonalities and forms. I would visit stone quarries and enjoy the sound of grinder machines and hammers, allowing the stone dust to settle on me,” added Mishra.
Years later, she chisels the stones, giving them numerous shapes and forms. In her ongoing solo in the Capital, she is sharing some of these with the audience. Titled ‘Nitya’, the exhibition at Triveni Kala Sangam is dedicated to her father, politician Nityanand Mishra, who passed away last year. “He was a huge pillar of support and was hugely encouraging,” says Mishra.
“The body of work represents the nine astral bodies — Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Brihaspati, Shukra, Shani, Rahu and Ketu — that influence our life and environment. Their deep, celestial connection with Shiva is depicted through a trishul,” says the graduate from College of Art, Delhi.
In the exhibition hall, Mishra casts different parts of Sati — from her lips to ears, eyes, nose, right foot and anklet — that are believed to have fallen in various parts of India. While another work is dedicated to Kamakhya, “who has the power to generate and regenerate life”, the centerpiece is an sculptural installation comprising 64 yoginis cast in metal and placed on wood in a triangle form. “My yoginis are sat-chit-ananda, beyond space, matter and time,” says the artist, adding, “These are also inspired by the tribes in Odisha and the terracotta figurines of mother goddesses found in villages across India. Faith has no boundaries.”
Published By :- Shubham Agarwal
Edited By :- Kritika kashyap
