Food apart from its role of being a basic need for all of us has always been a significant part of any culture and it also marks as a sign of one's cultural identity and origin. They can reveal a lot about our past and conventions of different geographical locations.
Dosa and Sambar by Sarasvathy TK_24_36_Oil on Linen
Sarasvathy TK is an artist based in New Jersey, USA who comprehends the necessity and got intrigued with its representation in hyper realistic style. Originally from Chennai, India, Sarasvathy was trained as a Computer Science Engineer and served in IT domain in different countries. However, since her childhood she was inclined towards art and later she realized her true love for art and decided to quit her job to devote and dedicate her full time to pursue and practice art. After years of practice and experimenting with various genres, she finally chose hyperrealism as her work of style.
Her artworks can amaze the viewers with their exquisite and flawless representations of popular Indian foods like Chhole Bhature, Dosa, Gulab Jamun etc which are portrayed with a virtuoso hyper-realistic style. She got inspired to this style after seeing the works of artists Tjalf Sparnaay and Mary Ellen Johnson’s food paintings. This motivated her to take up food as a motif. In her recent body of works, she created a range of Indian foods, specific to various regions depicting the wealth of traditional Indian foods. Her art emerges out of her love for Indian cuisines that invoke emotions and memories related to the image of the food and enhance all associated sensations. It also highlights the social and ethnic significance of Indian cuisine and its diversity.
Idli,Samabar and Coconut Chutney by Sarasvathy TK_24_36_Oil on Linen
An interesting question to ponder on is ‘How to know what our progenitors ate in a time when no technology or social media existed?’ Definitely texts, oral traditions, communication and art were the means to know almost anything and everything. Art and compositions of course gave us a fair idea and had helped us to get a brief impression about what our eating tables resembled. Thus, through arts and acquaintances, the food and recipes have been preserved and kept alive through generations. This shared love for food and art has resulted in a mouth-watering and captivating portrayal of food that may characterize an individual, his/her encounters, experiences and memories. Artist is bridging the gap between mere drawing and the actual form and presence of the food with newer artistic means and mediums.
Chola Bhature by Sarasvathy TK_24_36_Oil on Linen
Sarasvathy got struck that the artworks representing Indian food are very rare in comparison to the popularity of the cuisines. Her artworks in a way structure an approach of making social interfaces and accounts around Indian food and related narratives including both individual and natural. Thus, she went on depicting the wealth of traditional Indian foods passionately. Her paintings may amaze the viewers with their real visual treat of her palatable and appealing hyper-realistic food paintings.
She mostly paints on thrice-primed linen which lends sheerness to the paintings and enhances it with vigour and vitality. Her work process is painstaking that demands time, patience and skill, for the texture to show up in the most real form. With a magnificent manual dexterity and craft, Sarasvathy creates a tangible solidity and physical presence. The details carry such clarity that it’s almost in proximity to reality. The meticulous detailing in portrayal of colour, texture, shape, condiments, magnitude, and depth in each painting present her excellence and mastery in the field of hyper-realistic art. These works leave the onlooker with an ultimate stimulation and a distinct experience.
Gulab Jamun by Sarasvathy TK_24_36_Oil on Linen
Sarasvathy's relentless commitment for art has given her opportunities to exhibit in different distinguished exhibitions across America. She is now preparing 11 works under her project titled ‘Bhojan’ for a solo exhibition in New York in 2021. Her journey not only nurtures her passion for art but opens up new opportunities and inspiration for people to either indulge in Indian food or get carried away by the sweet memories of it.
By Vikash Nand Kumar - Independent Curator & Writer