Mindset Series

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The One who, himself without colour, By the manifold application of his power Distributes many colours in his hidden purpose…

Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.1 The rich, thematic quality of Boben M. Mammen’s work is a product of a profound physical, spiritual and cultural journey. Since establishing himself in Queensland in 2007, the Indian artist is receiving recognition for his instinctual and introspective sensibility that mines the expansive diversity of his trans-national experience.

Mammen’s career as an artist was written on the riverbanks of Kerala in south west India, where he would gather driftwood and pebbles to furnish his creative imagination. The child of a Christian family with Malayalam as their mother tongue, Mammen witnessed the dramatic shift in traditional values, politics, religion and culture of the Malayali people as they were often forced to flee a stagnant economical climate to seek a more secure lifestyle elsewhere.

While his father sought work in Bangalore, Mammen remained in his home state to embark on his formal training as an artist. After graduating in Fine Arts (Painting) from the College of Fine Arts in Kerala, Mammen completed a brief stint as an art teacher before establishing a studio for his work as a political graffiti artist.

Experimenting with an assortment of medium, Mammen explored his creative instincts, inspired by the social and political events of the period.

The burgeoning success of India’s advertising agencies lured Mammen to Bangalore, where he began his commercial career as a junior artist under one of the industry’s most successful creative directors. His talent was quickly recognised and he climbed the ranks to become a Visualiser within just two years.

Mammen soon launched his own design studio that was appointed to create numerous works for many of India’s major manufacturing companies, while also serving as an avenue to pursue his own artistic passions.

An unexpected job offer in Bahrain presented Mammen with the opportunity to travel outside India for the first time. It was a pivotal event that marked the start of an extremely successful career in advertising in the Middle East, while also exposing him to the extremes of the human condition. For twenty years, Mammen accumulated a plethora of artistic and technical skills that resulted in his rise to the top of the industry ladder as a corporate art director.

He also participated in a vast range of art exhibitions, including several solo shows that enjoyed critical acclaim.

However, his time in Middle East was greatly influenced by scenes of desperation and poverty, contrasted brutally by the region’s excessive wealth.

“People would be dying on the streets and suicide was common. The sense of wretchedness was ubiquitous amongst the poor. Yet the Arab’s simple philosophies and their spirit of endurance was still a source of great inspiration,” said Mammen.

Over two decades in the Middle East, Mammen travelled extensively throughout its many countries meeting an eclectic range of people from the world’s richest sultans to the remote ‘badu’ tribe in the remote Oman region. His time with both Shias and Sunnis gave him a valuable insight into the beauty of religious conviction and the destructive power of intolerance, which is a recurring theme in his work.

Boben Mammen married Anila in Kerala in 1993 and their two sons, Sharath and Hrithik, were born in the Middle East. After twenty years ‘that passed like an eastern wind’, the Mammens resolved to migrate to Australia. Cherishing the mesmeric stories of a primary school teacher who had returned from an Australian holiday, Mammen always felt the country played a key role in his fulfilling his destiny. He and Anila recognised that opportunities for a higher quality of education for their children lay in migration, and so in 1996 they bid farewell to the Middle East.

While the artist and his family never doubted their decision to relocate to Australia, they faced many challenges in the journey to forge a new life.

The process of finding accommodation and jobs often tested their spirit, yet their commitment to each other and their Christian faith provided a firm foundation to preserve. Humbled by the generosity and kindness of the Australians they met during their early months, the family soon embraced their new life. They secured a house on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the boys adapted easily to their new school, and Anila was offered a position within the Queensland Justice Department.

“If I start praising things about this country and its people, I would have no time left to paint,” said Mammen.

In Australia, the artist finally has the opportunity to direct his energy and passion into his work, as well as contributing his talents to a variety of local

events. Mammen produced the complete marketing material for the 2008 FESTURI Multicultural Festival as well as design collateral for the Indian Association on the Sunshine Coast.

Utilising a variety of medium to ensure a fluid approach to his subjects, Mammen’s work reflects the thematic concerns that surround the shift from one cultural sphere to another, as well as universal themes of identity, mindset, conflict and faith. His work challenges the temporal boundaries that constrict insular viewpoints, while offering a rich, meditative quality that rewards the audience with its multi-layered dimensions.

Achievements Highly Commended Certificate in painting by Kerala Lalithakala Academy (1990) Very successful career in advertising, working in various top advertising agencies in Sultanate Oman (Muscat), Kingdom of Bahrain (Manama), United Arab Emirates (Dubai) & India, encompassing approximately 20 years as Visualiser/ Graphic Designer/ Art Director/ Restaurant Conceptuliser

Exhibitions 1988 - 1995 1998 1989 1993 1994 1995

1996 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 - 2004 2009

Kerala Lalithakala Akademy Exhibition 1988 to 1995.

Uvajanamela Exhibition at Idukki National Exhibition of Arts by Kala Samscarika Kendra, Cochin Solo show at Jahangir Art Gallery, Bangalore Exhibition of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangam, Mahi, India Solo show at Indian Fine Art Sociey, Bahrain Group show sponsored by Kalakshetram, Coimbatore Solo show at Muscat, Sultanate of Oman (part of Indian Independence Day Celebration) Participated in Kerala Samajam Art Exhibition Tour in Salalah, Sur, Sohar, Muscat in Sultanate of Oman Participated in Oman National Day Exhibition in Muscat Inter Continental Hotel Outer State Exhibition of Kerala Lalithakala Academy in Madras Exhibition at Ooty by Central Lalithakala Academy Regional SOLO Exhibition Centre, Madras Participated in Al Shabiba National News Paper ‘Annual Art Exhibition” Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Solo Exhibition at Al Omaniya Art Exhibition Centre, Muscat Internationl Shopping Festival, Seeb, Sultanate of Oman Participated Salalah Festival, Sultanate of Oman Group Exhibition at Al Harthy Complex, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Jawahir Oman Art Exhibition, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Participated in Kargeen Art Exhibition, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman Ahlan Wa Sahlan Art Exhibition Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Bahrain Fine Arts Society Annual Exhibition Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Kerala Samajam Onam Exibition, Kingdom of Bahrain Surya Fine Arts Society Exhibition, Kingdom of Bahrain Solo exhibition, Sunshine Coast Library, Maroochydore

Mindset

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 17” x 40”) Inspired by The Analysis of Mind, Bertrand Russell’s 1921 philosophical masterpiece, Mindset is the first work in a series of twenty that represents a contemporary journey of psychological exploration. The sense of disquiet in Mindset conveys the artist’s apprehension upon confronting the multifarious nature of human thought and its connections with our ever-changing world.

The Analysis of Mind

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 14” x 18”) The Analysis of Mind is the fountainhead in the artist’s Mindset series. The artist explores the concept of mind both from the point of introspection and of external analysis of observable behaviour. The Analysis of Mind conveys the labyrinthine depths of meaning that reveal so much about human nature, yet are routinely ignored unseen due to apathy and self-indulgence.

Prison of Uncertainty

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 25” x 25”) With Prison of Uncertainty, the artist draws on his own difficult experience of leaving a successful career in India and Bahrain to fulfill his dreams in Australia. The work is also a broader portrayal of the social anxiety caused by recent national and world events: unemployment, financial turmoil, natural disasters and tenuous security all collaborating to insidiously impound our confidence and create misgiving.

Scar

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 17” x 40”) Scar presents each individual’s personal history as a formidable opponent to the divinity of forgiveness.

Only the power of absolution can begin to erase the dark shadows of experience that disfigure our hearts and deface our thoughts.

Fear

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 14” x 18”) “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Bertrand Russell, Analysis of Mind: 1921). This work illustrates the destructive effect that fear, in all its perverse forms, has on the individual mindset and the natural movements of the human form.

Reminiscences

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 14” x 18”) Celebrating the pleasures of solitude, Reminiscences was created from the artist’s experiences of selfdiscovery in a new country. Through a process of building a ‘nest’ lined with memories from his past, the artist has created a work – and a life – that marries the perils of loneliness with the triumph of self-fulfillment.

Mask

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on board – (Size 14” x 18”) The fantastical desire to strip society and its individuals of the superficial masks lies at the heart of this work: a dream of a world free from conflict, racism, injustice, poverty and greed. The masks we don as individuals and societies reveal as much about us as they conceal.

Experience

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic and Ink on Plywood (Size 14� x 18�)

Experience is a reference to the problematical and paradoxical nature of creativity and commerciality; a respectful tribute to those that dedicate their mindset to creation and resist the corruptive forces of the mercantile.

Hidden

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) The search for the true self is the motivation behind Hidden, a reflection of the many layers with which we shield and recreate ourselves for social presentation. The work reveals the challenge of interpreting human behaviour and communication in order to discover what constitutes the integral core of each individual.

Believes

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) Profoundly moved by his experiences in the Middle East, the artist created Believes as a reflection on the powerful impact that political, spiritual and religious beliefs can make on an individual mindset. From the richness of a simple conversation with a new friend in a marketplace to witnessing strangers enjoying gruesome evidence of a beheading, the artist has been exposed to the extremes of human behaviour, each directly shaped by the doctrines of belief systems.

Isolation

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) The isolating properties of human’s mindset can present dangerous repercussions. Isolation depicts the pitfalls that await individuals who force their own personal philosophies on others.

The importance of respect for the rights of each individual to possess their own beliefs and mindsets drives this particular work.

Society

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) Does Society have the power to influence individuals to form a collective mindset? This is just one of the questions posed by Society. Born from the artist’s experience of blending the cultural beliefs and views of his Indian homeland with those of multicultural Australia, Society represents the ideal a universal mindset devoid of barriers.

Relationship

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) Relationship represents the great significance that close relationships have on individual mindsets.

The positive contributions of a close partnership can be startlingly stripped if the relationship becomes strained, just as the disclosure of the most intimate contents of individual’s mindsets within a relationship can also present the most dramatic of consequences.

God’s Perspective

by Boben M. Mammen Acrylic on Plywood - (Size 14” x 14”) Raised in a Christian family, the support, security and freedom which the artist educes from his faith are reflected in God’s Perspective. This work features the human skull at the centre of the piece as seen from a bird’s eye view.

Relative Strangers

by Boben M. Mammen Ink Drawings and Stumping on Paper (Size 50 cm x 70 cm) A tribute to the vast network of friends the artist accumulated on his travels, Relative Strangers is a reminder of the hidden connectivity we all share, despite the barriers of geography, race, language, politics and religion.

Billion Subjects

by Boben M. Mammen Ink Drawings and Stumping on Paper (Size 25 cm x 50 cm) Inspired by the interrelation of mind and movement, Billion Subjects reects the miraculous and fascinating singularity of the individual. The smaller format provides the artist tremendous visual depth and the opportunity to capture the gamut of emotions that deďŹ ne us as independent mindsets.

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