What inspires your Art?

I have been asked the question about my work on numerous occasions, and it is a query I have found myself wondering about quite often as well. What is it that makes me tick, what makes me create art a certain way one time, and a completely different way another time. It is hardly from the conscious, logical space. If it was, I would know exactly what to do, where to look for it, under the bed or the magic box on the top most shelf in my cupboard.What I do know though is that inspiration for me comes from the most unlikely of places. From the urge to experiment with a new style, to open up a new tube of paint, to replicate a color palette I saw on a stylized food platter, or after having stared at the ceiling for too long. It could be just about anything. What is interesting for me in this process is that some stories and characters stick longer than others, they keep appearing and reappearing in my colored stories with an almost religious regularity. These are the tales of Rising from the ashes, of Duality, of Parallel Universes & Connecting the Dots. The Butterflies, Dragonflies & Peacocks right now seem like they’re here to stay, & the other absolute favorites are my twists to fairy tales or inspiration drawn from a book I may be reading at a particular time.

The inspiration is never obvious in the beginning. It starts becoming visible to me only after I am already deep into the work, when I am somewhere midway or a little away from the end, it sometimes begins with a stray brush stroke or an accidental paint spill even.

The new work this month, which I just about managed to take pictures of this morning is another such resonating tale. Of starry trails, spindles & alien cocoons. I keep thinking Sleeping beauty. I call it Slumberland.