Olivia Fraser

The Lotus flower has ancient sacred associations within the art of India. As a flower that blooms out of the mud, it is associated with purity, perfection, resurrection and spiritual growth.

The shift in scale and minimalist isolation of the lotus floating within a field of intense blue is an attempt to test the abilities of the image to expand its meaning and become confrontational. This is a painting about iconography and texture and here I have contrasted flat plains of colour with minute brushstrokes made with a single - haired squirrel brush for the prataj or shading work. It is a form of shading particular to the Indian miniature painting tradition and involves rhythmic, slow, deliberate brushstrokes that feel almost meditative in their intensity and concentration.