JAYASRI BURMAN –the woman behind mythical canvas
It is not every day that you see a simple canvas reflecting ordinary beings, transform into contours of sheer grandeur and divinity under the tip of a brush. Artist JayasriBurman’sbrush stroke over the years has metamorphosed into works that project ordinary men and women with heroic characters raised to the level of Gods and Goddesses often surrounded by hybrid creatures. Simple characters like a mother nurturing a child or a girl trying to find her identity, are often bestowed with wings to fly or fins to swim in Jayasri’s work, redefining their freedom, desire, and strength. Perhaps, she sees in ordinary people an extraordinary ability to evolve and flourish.
Born in the city of Joy, Kolkata, her early life was soaked in festivities, colors, and spirituality. It is no surprise that her artwork celebrates the feminism and womanhood likened to the female mythical characters of Indian legends often worshipped in the form of Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Every so often, she picks a central character, usually a woman and weaves a story around her with crossed creatures flying, floating or just standing around, transcending the possibilities in Life science. Her art speaks the language of her imagination with subtle surprises, sometimes by the presence of a swan, mermaid, pigeon, parrot etc. Her desire to be free and nomadic as these birds or animals makes her canvas and sculpture invariably fabled and enchanting. As a child, she was always inclined towards writing and poetry, but she also knew that she was destined to be an artist as she was often inspired by her famous uncle and artist Sakti Burman, a contemporary Indian artist living in France. The enigma in her work is a powerful souvenir of her metier and personage.