"Most of my paintings are a mixture of my memories from childhood. Of taking long walks in parks, sniffing orange Champakam flowers from flower sellers' baskets at train stations, wanting the longest string of Jasmine, spending hours watching my mother tend to her garden and being out in nature.
When I lived with my grandfather, a nature enthusiast, we would go for walks everyday, just to look at flowers around the neighbourhood and that became a thing we did every evening. I remember being so excited about it!
Now as an adult, I try to spend as much time as possible just watching nature's beautiful cycle of death and rebirth. It fascinates me to no end and is my biggest source of inspiration. From this came the evolution of my series of pods and buds. I have even realised through these observations that I prefer being inside a jungle, under trees and bushes than looking at a scene from up on a hill or mountain. Being inside it, surrounded by it, that feeling of being close to the earth's soil. It is so grounding.
Another part of my process is painting fantasy flowers and plants. I draw out my interpretation of a Haliconia bunch or wild Lantana or a Banyan tree and then painting that piece is the most exciting part of my work day! Some mornings I wake up with a memory of a garden I saw in a dream and I attempt painting it. These, I love."
I've always been an admirer of Nidhi Mariam Jacob's detailed botanical artworks. Check out her gorgeous works here:
