Through a tableau of Biblical imagery, Mumbai-based artist Milburn Cherian’s series of artworks, Living Between the Times, reminds one of a Shakespearean tragedy and his other plays. By Team Viva
Intricacy in an artwork certainly grabs a lot of eyeballs. Not only does it make one wonder about how it has been created, it also inspires the viewer to find a number of meanings layered within them. You will feel it while taking a walk around the solo exhibition, Living Between the Times, by Mumbai-based artist Milburn Cherian at the Visual Arts Gallery.
The collection of artworks is a suite of captivating images that seem to bridge many gaps through the gospel and speak to us about the unity of man and his many ways. “In an otherwise photographically real world, painting to me is an expression of my way of seeing things. It comes naturally to me,” says she.
Cherian had no formal training in painting. She had to depend on her comprehensive communication course from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, to learn the basics of art and aesthetics. She shied away from making a livelihood as a graphic artist after NID but knew that graphic designing taught you to “simplify things” and translate ideas easily. She says, “My thinking ran contrary to this, I realised later. I like doing just the opposite. I like detailing.” However, before the course, she had studied textile history and design, about which she says, “It was my launching pad into the world of art.”
It was then that her sister had gifted her a book on the works of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, an innovative Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker, who is known for his sweeping landscapes and peasant scenes. She studied the books on Brueghel and then bought more books and researched the works at length. “I analysed how he created his characters and combined the Carnival and the season of Lent in one art piece. I then looked at the Proverbs in the Bible and began painting. A lot of my learnings came from reading books and going through reproductions of several famous painters,” she says.
Through rich and amusing narratives, Cherian reinvents Brueghel’s works in a way that it makes one reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy and his other plays. Through images of Biblical relevance — Christ’s Crucifixion and Proverbs — and rustic idylls, the images are far from beautiful but they reflect exquisite craftsmanship, which impel us to change how we experience the perspectives we share in art. Cherian, as an artist, connects not only with the humble human culture of the past but also recognises the culture of the poor and the underprivileged.
There is a certain sadistic element in most of her works, says art critics. Floating twisted torsos, with their hearts torn apart, dominate the canvas. She paints ghost-like creatures floating through air as if they were floating on water. Though various expressive faces, minute work on the dresses of her myriad figures, designs on the floor tiles, scene-depictions of a host of peasants and cultural symbols, her works boast of her love for detailing. Even though the paintings are filled with drama and the peasant characters tumble out of the past, art connoisseurs say that it’s her patience and precision that give the artpieces the rhythm of the Renaissance era.
She says that Salvador Dali, also known as the ‘Master of Surrealism’; Heironymous Bosch and the German Romantic, Caspar David Fredrich have greatly influenced her style. Cherian also takes inspiration from nature. However, she says, “On canvas, you’ll find only certain interpretations of that.” She has earlier played around with softer colours and pastels, too. But here, she has switched to earthy colours and even chrome browns and mauves to create a rich prism of shades.
Her works teem with more than 200 people, all nestled close to each other. The average size is around 14x12 inches, while some, for instance, Tsunami, Sienna Earth and The Healing, spread out to 61 inches. Cherian has also donated some of her paintings to charity and to organisations like the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Cancer Patients Society, Khushii, SOS Villages in India and Save the Children Foundation.