Underbelly of the Beloved

Malavika Rajnarayan-Underbelly of the Beloved-low-res
“Underbelly of the Beloved”, Acrylic on canvas, 2016, Assemblage of 5 canvases of sizes: 72 X 48 in.(large canvas); 12 X 10 in. (3 small canvases); 12 X 16 in. (1 small canvas) 
_DSC2367 copy
Detail-1 (72 X 48 in.)
_DSC2376 copy
Detail-2 (12 X 10 in.)
_DSC2381 copy
Detail-3 (12 X 10 in.)
_DSC2386 copy
Detail-4 (12 X 10 in.)
_DSC2396 copy
Detail-5 (12 X 16 in.)

“Underbelly of the Beloved” is an assemblage of 5 paintings. The large central piece portrays a playful take on the myth of Hanuman carrying the mountain containing the Sanjeevani herb. The woman under the water is barely visible, and the “mountain” she seems to move is a bush of floating weeds. The act of heroism is covert, and has always been, in the routine happenings of women’s lives and their actions.

The accompanying narratives in the smaller canvases extend the landscape of imagination to other scenes that trigger open stories.

This work was shown at the Baroda March, at the Kumaraswamy Hall, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, 2016