This is an archive article published on January 17, 2025
Artist Jayasri Burman on using cowries in her recent works and painting Radhika Merchant Ambani’s lehenga
Artist Jayasri Burman on the mythological character she admires most, and how her painted lehenga for Radhika Merchant Ambani will be her first and last
Rooted in mythology, folklore, and the mythical, artist Jayasri Burman, 64, effortlessly navigates the intersection of tradition and modernity. In her ongoing solo at Art Alive Gallery in Delhi, she continues to explore her fascination with water bodies, bringing together elaborate paintings with mixed media works featuring cowries and shells.
You have painted shells and cowries previously, but this is the first time you’ve used them in mixed media works.
I am from Bengal and grew up admiring the ghats of the Ganga. Always attracted to water bodies, I fondly recall our family vacations to Digha and Puri, where I would sit with my grandfather on the beach, playing with sand, collecting shells and cowries. Even after washing them, the smell of the sea would never go away and that enticed me, making its way to the depths of my heart. I always endeavoured to capture these emotions in my art, and a few years ago it spontaneously started coming back to me — the sound of the sea, the eternal life cycle of cowries, their link with germination. The title of the show “The Whisper of the Water, The Song of Stars” refers to the song of life, reverberating from the riverbed that harbours the depths of our existence. The cowries have been collected during my travels and in these works they become part of my myths.
You often work on mythological themes but the stories are your own.
When I’m painting, I usually start with one figure and the rest keep coming to build a story. I enjoy listening to mythological stories. As a child, I heard several from my mother and at the jatras we attended. Even today, any new story intrigues me. These emerge in the artworks in myriad forms. For instance, a cousin recently told me how during the Samudra Manthan, a lot of cowries also emerged with the amrit (nectar). A symbol of growth and germination, the cowries also represent the body of a woman. So when I’m using them, I am also referencing the symbolism, it’s like a cosmic churn within me. The canvas is my performance stage, through which I am presenting a story and imparting a message.
You often paint strong female characters from mythology. Whom do you admire the most?
It would be Draupadi. To me, she is extremely powerful. Her twin brother Dhrishtadyumna and she were born from a fire sacrifice to fulfill Drupada’s desire for a son who could kill Drona. Her father wasn’t expecting her. Dark and beautiful, she always felt she was different from others and spent most of her time indoors, listening to lessons Krishna imparted to her brother. She wanted to marry Krishna but he refused, saying her destiny was to marry five men. Later, she was told couldn’t marry Karna either. She eventually married the Pandavas and was committed to all of them, but she loved Arjun most. Later, when they were heading to swarg, she questioned how it was unfair that her death came first. To me, she is Maha Saraswati, who had abundant gyan (knowledge), Maha Lakshmi who looked after the Pandavas, and Maha Kali, who raised her voice and asked for justice when she was disrobed by Duryodhana and Dushasana.
You studied at Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan and later went to Paris to learn printmaking. How did the two places influence you?
Santiniketan nurtures your mind and soul. It teaches you how to view things from your own unique perspective, and how no one can control your thoughts and creativity. I was fortunate to have teachers such as Sanat Kar and Ganesh Haloi.
When I first went to France in 1984, I was on the verge of crying. I had seen works by the Western masters in books but to see them in reality was a completely different experience. Inspired by how (Vincent) van Gogh used colours, I did many big oil paintings when I returned to India. I played a lot with colour, developing my own style and vocabulary.
The lehenga you painted for Radhika Merchant Ambani’s ‘Shubh Aashirwad’ ceremony last year received a lot of accolades. You worked on it for a month. If you could share the process.
I have known the Ambanis for many years and am really fond of the children (Isha, Anant and Akash) who had reached out to me more than 10 years ago for a big painting they wanted to gift their mother (Nita Ambani) for her birthday. I have met the family a couple of times and they have several of my paintings in their collection. When I was approached for the lehenga, I was initially reluctant as there was very little time, but after an interaction with Radhika I didn’t have the heart to say no. It couldn’t have been done on silk as that would have taken much longer, so the designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla sent me an Italian canvas that could fall like cloth. I drew directly on the fabric and used tones of orange and pink, a colour I know the Ambanis like. It depicts togetherness and is a celebration of life with birds, animals, water, the wind and flowers in peace with humans. The musicians are playing instruments and celebrating the wedding. Painted as an art form, I have titled it Pranaya (marriage and togetherness, in Bengali). I have decided that I won’t paint another; some things should be unique.
Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice.
With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India.
Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale.
She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters.
Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory.
The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions.
Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović).
Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India:
1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival
"At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors.
"Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers.
"At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025).
"Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention.
2. M.F. Husain & Modernism
"Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum.
"Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025).
3. Art Market & Records
"Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million.
"All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025).
"What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork.
4. Art Education & History
"Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025).
"A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art.
Signature Beats
Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More
