JAYASRI BURMAN –the woman behind mythical canvas
It is not every day that you see a simple canvas reflecting ordinary beings, transform into contours of sheer grandeur
and divinity under the tip of a brush. Artist JayasriBurman’sbrush stroke over the years has metamorphosed into
works that project ordinary men and women with heroic characters raised to the level of Gods and Goddesses often
surrounded by hybrid creatures. Simple characters like a mother nurturing a child or a girl trying to find her identity,
are often bestowed with wings to fly or fins to swimin Jayasri’s work, redefining their freedom, desire and strength.
Perhaps, she sees in ordinary people an extraordinary ability to evolve and flourish.
Born in the city of Joy, Kolkata, her early life was soaked in festivities, colours, folklores and spirituality.It is no
surprise that her artworkcelebrates the feminism and womanhood likened to the female mythical characters of
Indian legends often worshipped in the form of Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Every so often, shepicks a
central character, usually a woman and weaves astory around her with crossed creatures flying, floating or just
standing around, transcending the possibilities in Life science. Her art speaks the language of her imagination with
subtle surprises, sometimes by the presence of a swan, mermaid, pigeon, parrotetc. Her desire to be free and
nomadic as these birds or animals makes her canvasand sculpture invariably fabled and enchanting.As a child she
was always inclined towards writing and poetry, but she also knew that she was destined to be an artist as she was
often inspired by her famous uncle and artist Sakti Burman, a contemporary Indian artist living in France. The enigma
in her work is a powerful souvenir of her métierand personage.
But her art was not always this mystic as today, one can find a distinct transformation in her work of art from late
20
th
toearly 21
st
century.Having completed her education from Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan and Visual College of Art,
Kolkata, she went to learn print making in Paris under the guidance of Monsieur Ceizerzi. Initially, she started
painting in impressionist style with pen and ink, but later she used variousmedia and techniques including etching,
printmaking and sculpting. Many of her early works captured the many parts of India and its people, whichwere
reminiscent of her new-foundavocation for travel back in 1990s. Being a budding artist, she was trying to create her
identity through her innocent, yet delightful paintings, which earned her a lot of appreciation. Her earlier canvasses
echoed her simplicity as an artist, but as her art transformed under her brush, so did her persona as an individual. As
her ability to create flawless paintings evolved, her canvases became more intricate and bold, each image
reverberating feminism and strength through larger than life characters.