Mitali Das, a visual artist from West Bengal, her creative interest revolves around
the areas of the feminine self, body, and sexuality. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Indian College of Arts and Draftsmanship and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Painting from Rabindra Bharati University. Mitali’s work delves into the complexities of the feminine body and its relationship with societal perceptions of beauty, sexuality, and transformation. Emerging from her personal experiences, fears, and fantasies related to mortality and physical changes, her paintings present the body as a fragile yet dynamic entity that transforms like a vegetative forest. In her work, she confronts fears associated with aging, body hair, and the inevitable progression of physical change.
Her art challenges traditional beauty standards by portraying the body’s imperfections and vulnerabilities, rejecting societal prohibitions of shame. Mitali frequently visualizes the feminine form as a landscape, mirroring nature’s continuous state of flux, regeneration, and transformation. The body in her paintings becomes an ecosystem that nurtures life, symbolizing both fragility and strength. Through these representations, she transcends heteronormative ideals, embracing the feminine figure as a mutable, organic form that resonates with the natural world.
Drawing inspiration from the Rajput and Mughal schools of Indian miniature painting, Mitali often incorporates traditional hunting scenes and landscapes into her work. She reimagines these visual vocabularies within the framework of the body as a living landscape. Her use of watercolors on Nepali handmade paper adds translucence and fluidity to her compositions, reflecting the ephemeral nature of the themes she explores
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