Tiger, tiger everywhere…

The indelible marks and presence of the tigers in our texts, stories and art proves that they were always included and respected immensely . The earliest pictorial representation of tigers can be found incave paintings and seals from the Indus valley civilisation. Many episodes from Indian mythology, Buddhist stories, Arabic and Urdu calligraphy, Mughal miniatures, Kalighatpatas, paintings done during British rule, Gond paintings had extensively and warmly made place for the immensely feared of yet a beloved animal, the tiger. 

The contemporary art is no exception as the vigilant cat has often walked majestically and reigned over the picture surface of many recent expressions. The present series of works too, celebrate the spirit and strength of the tigers as observed, contemplated upon and expressed by a group of contemporary artists. 

What attracts one is the pictures of the 3-d tiger mask painted by Swati. She says, “I generally paint on co-existence and urbanisation. How the natural resources are being encroached by human to fulfil their never-ending thirst for a luxurious life.  So, I have used creeper to show the nature. I have depicted miniature of houses to show human insignificant to nature and god’s creation.” 

Hyderabad-based Sweta Chandra, mask which is acrylic on fibre shows the nature. She says, “I put my element on white space, which is a symbol of peace. I also have left the paw in white and an arrow show the disappearance of tigers from this world.”

The tiger is an undeniable emblem of power, strength, beauty and eternal aristocracy. Another artist from the city Murali Mohan expressed the concept is ‘save girl and tiger’. Murali says, “I want to tell the people that save girl and tiger both are precious, and both are strong. You can see nature and birds in the mask to feel the forest view.”

In the present series of masks, it gets exemplified in iridescent and vast expressions. The artists belonging to varied genres and styles of paintings have warmly accepted and explored the medium with open arms and unbounded creative strengths.When it comes to style, Mumbai- based artist Sumantho Chowdary presented vibrant nature in his mask which is acrylic on fabric. And Hyderabad-based artists Mohan Reddy did finger print. He says, “Finger prints is my identity or style and it’s a DNA of any animal.  And one can feel that my work is a sculpture.”

Some artists have exemplified the connections of tiger with the Indian terrain as mentioned in mythological stories and scriptures while others have superimposed varied metaphors and elements that enliven the surface of the mask. Quite often the artists choose to create for the animal an abundance of natural elements, flowers, trees etc. which adorn its facial features. The recurrence of such symbolic motifs perhaps reinstates the need to restore the lush green forests that these cats cannot live without.