Olivia Fraser’s meditations in miniature

Olivia Fraser’s solo exhibition, entitled ‘The Journey Within’, is the British artist’s unique reimagining of traditional miniature painting techniques. The exhibition is being presented by Nature Morte at the British Council’s gallery in New Delhi.

The artist thrives on her travels throughout the world. Having had a Scottish upbringing, a Master’s degree in modern languages from the University of Oxford and a year at the Wimbledon College of Arts, she relocated to India in the 1990s. In many ways, the rich cultural heritage of our multi-dimensional land offered her the impetus to veer into an exploration of yoga, tantrik meditative practices and the magnificently ostentatious tradition of miniature paintings. She trained under masters at a Delhi-based gurukul, went on to study at a traditional miniature painting studio in Jaipur and then at another one in New Delhi.

The intensive training has enabled Olivia to deploy 17th-century techniques and stone-ground natural pigments in ‘The Journey Within’. The result is a series of artworks that are ethereal, meditative and inspired by geometric forms. These inadvertently tend to incorporate tantrik philosophy along with the history of geometric abstraction that was prevalent in Europe and the US in the 20th century. Thus, it’s a juxtaposition of global styles with a strong propensity towards Indian miniature paintings.

Her artworks have been created with natural pigments, besides sustainable and natural materials. As she articulates, “Everything is natural and locally sourced. I use stone pigments, earth pigments and plant pigments sourced from Jaipur, where this tradition is very much still alive.”

What adds an interesting layer to Olivia’s oeuvre is how she connects art and nature and recreates elements of flora and fauna, particularly in the textured, jewel-toned backdrops of her miniature paintings. The intricately decorated and deeply burnished artistry that defines miniature paintings, and is marked in her work, owes much to her deep understanding of the vocabulary of Indian miniature painting.

Recounting her training, she reveals, “While painting alongside these traditional artists, I noticed the connection between different kinds of handmade materials — paper, brushes, pigments, hand-ground and filtered, and mixed by hand with Arabic gum. It opens your eyes to the world around you. It opens the possibility of creating something from a tree just outside your front door... It excites me a lot because it is so different from the West, where you shop for everything in the supermarket.” When you work with natural materials, you also realise how these behave in different circumstances. “You would have seen the original malachite as a stone; but on grinding, it slightly changes its pigment colour. It goes lighter and has this slightly cool nature to it. That’s something that really attracts me to this tradition,” she says.

According to the artist, her interest in ‘tantrik philosophy and sacred geometry’ was a by-product of having learnt miniature painting. She started off by imbibing the pichhwai form rooted in the Bhakti tradition. The icon of Lord Krishna in his eighth incarnation, as depicted at the Shrinathji Temple, impacted her immensely. She understood that it was a perfect amalgam of the geometry and dimension of art with spirituality.

Olivia says India has transformed her, and learning the miniature painting tradition has changed the way she looks at things. “I remember how when I first began learning miniature painting, I wanted to ask the artists how they painted a banana leaf. I was kind of fascinated by trees, partly because I was surrounded by Delhi’s extraordinarily lush spaces. I wanted to learn how to paint them but wasn’t sure how to begin. I asked my teacher if I should go out and paint from life. He said there was only one way of painting a banana leaf — by looking within. And that actually applies to the entire tradition of miniature painting.”

On the subject of artists offering the possibility of using art as a meditative technique and a tool for self-exploration, especially with the rise of mental health issues worldwide, Olivia feels art is definitely an effective tool for healing. Not just observing art, but the practice of creating it is also a very calming and nurturing process.

Olivia points out how people walk around a gallery purposefully or sit for hours looking at an artwork in complete silence. She believes that art is used beautifully and liberally in churches, temples and places of worship all across the world as it forms a connection, a bridge between the real and the metaphysical. At the show, Olivia’s artworks are complemented by sound artist Jason Singh’s music. The music draws from biosonification, a technique based on the conscious nervous system of plants, and is an ode to the legacy of 19th-century Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose. The lyrical botanical compositions are fully inspired by the rhythms of nature and comprise field recordings from sacred sites in India, Japan and the UK.

On display at the gallery is her five-panelled work ‘Metamorphosis’. Olivia says it is based on an iconographic image of bees as Krishna is often compared to a bee, while his beloved Radha is depicted as a flower in Indian mythology. “Just as the lotus opens and shuts, the analogy can be drawn to every exhalation and inhalation and the power of introspection,” she says.

Similarly, ‘Snakes and Ladders’ is drawn from the fable where goodness leads one to growth while a negative deed can make one fall from grace. Hence, this playful work also offers much food for thought.

The show is on view till March 25.

— The writer is a freelancer