Sacred & Spiritual

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Govinda and the Peacock places a single peacock beside Krishna, its plumage in quiet dialogue with the feather worn i...

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Govinda's Melody surrounds a flute-playing Krishna with peacocks, their feathers echoing the peacock plume traditiona...

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Krishna leans into his flute in the last blue light of evening, a single peacock feather catching what remains of the sun. The palette holds to deep indigo and slate, with gold used sparingly at the jewellery and the rim of the horn — restraint that makes the piece read as devotional rather than decorative. Suits a living room wall that already has warm wood or brass to answer the gold.

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Rama at rest rather than at war — bow set aside against the rock, the forest closing in green and gold behind him. The saffron of the robe is the only high-chroma note in the composition, which is what gives the figure its stillness. A quiet, upright piece for an entryway or a study, where a single strong vertical is worth more than a busy wall.

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A monochrome study of Shiva with Nandi, worked entirely in graphite tones against carved temple stone. Stripping the colour out pushes everything onto line and weight — the fall of the bull's shoulder, the tension in the seated figure. Reads as drawing rather than painting, which makes it an easy piece to live with in a room that is already colourful.

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Shiva and Nandi against a wash of burnt ochre, the whole canvas held in a narrow band of earth tones — rust, clay, muted saffron. There is almost no cool colour anywhere in it, which is unusual for the subject and gives the piece an enveloping warmth. Best on a pale wall, where the ochre can do its work without competition.

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Shiva in meditation with Nandi, the Himalaya rising cold and blue behind them and wildflowers scattered across the foreground rock. The piece works on depth: three distinct planes, each cooler than the last, so the eye travels back into the mountains rather than resting on the figure. A large-feeling work that suits a wall with room to be viewed from across a room.

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Sita seated alone beneath a broad tree, the yellow of her sari the single warm point in a composition otherwise given over to green shadow. The wide format leaves a great deal of empty space to her left, and that emptiness is the subject as much as the figure is. A contemplative horizontal piece, well suited above a low console or a bed.

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A second reading of the same grove, warmer and closer than the first — the light has moved, the greens have gone golden, and the figure sits nearer the picture plane. Hung as a pair with Waiting Under the Ashoka it reads as a passage of time; hung alone it is simply a very quiet landscape with a figure in it.