The majesty of the body in paint
The Hindu
Exhibition of paintings on at Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode
It was a mystery woman who walked into her studio one fine day who inspired artist Sara Hussain, an unconventional artist from Alappuzha, to come up with her latest series ‘What the Body says...’.
The exhibition that began at the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode on January 2 is an ode to that woman who forced the artist to overcome her deepest conditionings regarding the body. Until then, Sara had viewed the body, especially the female body, as “a space of fear, a certain kind of taboo, and a nameless shame that is meant for open view.” The woman posed for her in the nude, wearing just a turban veil, making the artist struck by the beauty and, at the same time, experiencing a sense of shock.
What the Body Says... is modelled on that woman, along with Onyx Poulose, Sara’s mentor, in quite unromantic and asexual poses, unlike the popular depiction of nudity. Sara calls her characters ‘Yaksha’ and ‘Yakshini’. However, Yakshini here does the day-to-day household chores such as mopping the floor, washing undergarments, or better yet sighing in relief as she sits in a corner with a few morsels on her plate, exhausted from a day’s work.