Editors’ note: Painting, for many of us, offers both a mode of expression beyond words, as well as a practice and process that can be deeply healing, meditative and meaningful in its very act. The same can be said of the act of looking, of engaging with artwork, and occasionally encountering something that speaks to us profoundly. Rushil wrote to us some time ago saying that these strange times had inspired her to interpret the psychological state of people around her through the medium of painting. Below is some of the artwork that emerged.
Art for me is a way of reclaiming myself from this world’s perception of me. It is a way of presenting in bold colours and thus solidifying my otherwise quivering sense of self. I paint everything I wish to acknowledge — what pains me, what I am ashamed of, what I find ugly, what gives me joy, and above all, I paint myself as I am. It frees me, to be honest about who I am, what I feel, and put it in front of the world. Every piece of art that I produce, is a step towards self-acceptance.
Rushil is an educator, an aspiring artist and a writer from Delhi. Her work is an attempt to address the invisible trauma perpetuated by the deliberately hidden realities of Indian society. She does that by refocusing at the ordinary and the mundane through an engaging lens.
