Everyday and Traditional Narratives Combined

My lino cuts are inspired by the sights and scenes I witnessed during my time in Southern India in 2015. The past and tradition of India became part of my experience through the continuation of traditional everyday past times, such as washing in the backwaters, and the huge influence of traditional spiritual rituals and festivities. Because my experience of India was hugely influenced by a multitude of these factors I felt it was important to reflect them within my lino cuts. Adding everyday images to traditional narratives where appropriate. Sometimes this was within the print itself, or on the juxtaposition of the stock with the lino cut.

I found this film by Arun Wolf really useful in reinforcing my ideas of combining the now and the traditional. I think these artworks are great and I can learn a lot from the colour palettes and visual story telling technique. It is also interesting that a lot of them use frames, or frames to single out a particularly important symbol. I have seen this a lot in Indian art and it is something I want to pursue in a few of my prints once I have finished them.

My COP dissertation research has also fed into this project; it leads me to think about folk art and the incorporation of animals further than just as an aesthetic- it reflects the power struggle and faith in the animals. Worshiping an animal gives respect to the animal, it is a way of humans respecting the power of the natural beast, but also giving themselves some power over it; if they worship a crocodile god enough, the crocodile will be less likely to eat them as they wash their clothes in the river. (If your have faith in these folk laws and beliefs... these type of power struggles in worship are evident in all religion and most historical art between human and animal.)

For example in my lino cut piece on transport, I have combined many elements, my modern traffic warden from my primary photograph in Tamil Nadu, with old spiritual and traditional vessels of transport.
Explained more in this blog post:
http://a-dear1316sp.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/transport-lino-cut.html