2weekswith200women

&

Thelittleyellowmen

"2 WEEKS WITH 200 WOMEN", is my personal interactions with cows. as a volunteer in an organic dairy farm last year I had the joy of interacting with these beautiful women through their ups and downs.I always believed that cows represent abundance, they are the givers and hence represent mother’s energy. Every evening after the days work i would sketch and write down one experience or sub conscious interaction i had on that particular day. My mind was a blank slate when i was making these sketches. After one year when i notice them i am discovering messages hidden between my lines. Women are the wise carrier of ethereal nectar gifted to them by the moon , she is the nature herself selfless and ever giving . The little yellow men were born out of desire that exists in each and every moment. As little as they are, they make life worth it, they are the god of small things, they are the joy that exists in every moment. These men are the carriers of light  playful and carefree.They milk the women to gain their spiritual knowledge through many radical and unorthodox rituals. The coming together of the two is very innocently controversial because one is forever constant and the other ever changing. Their psychic union gives birth to that which is not.

As an observer one can choose to cut off from the external surrounding and move into a space within oneself. There the reality has abstract limits . Or they can choose to cut off from themselves and move into the external reality where there are psychological boundaries. Between the two realities exists a space where there are no limits or boundaries, one can enter this knowingly or unknowingly . I call this sentient space as sochalaya. One always has the choice of witnessing, questioning and channelling, all we need to do is to take the step.Does not matter who you are, “ wise or otherwise.”

As we grew up we all have experienced this space, where we are physically sitting with our eyes open and staring at something or someone, but mentally we are somewhere else in some other reality/ world/ universe. Yes! that is sochalaya, our very own abode of thoughts that we have always been visiting since the day we opened our eyes. As a baby, as an adolescent, as an adult we have been and will forever be with our alive and spirited space sochalaya, that which is not.

 

By profession Bio architect and by passion a social artist.Indian born and very keen on learning from different cultures and making my own. I love sketching with pen and ink and i do this by sensing energies both inside and outside.Our body is capable of opening energy paths and to connect our inner conscience with the cosmos. Music,dance, architecture and art are all capable of aiding this union. I believe that my sketches encourages the “ unmanifested “ energy in the viewer to become one with the manifested cosmos.It begins with the viewer asking questions related to the art and seeking for answers from within.

Location: Nis art gallery, 2nd- 9th July 2015

Fırın sok. No : 11/1 Teşvikiye Şişli İstanbul

Tel : 0212 232 25 82-86

Masal Terapi

Author: Judith Liberman   
Designed and Illustrated by Mukund Iyer

Finally its out my first Illustrated book written by my dear sister Judith. The book is called " Masal Terapi"  ( story therapy) and it has stories collected from middle east and some from other parts of the world.

Cover page of Masal terapi

Each story is followed by some insights,  some questions that you can try and answer by yourself in your personal journal, some practice that you start following and some quotes related to the story. She has defined this book as a wise teacher you go to when you have a question.

As i started my process of making illustrations for the stories, i realised that its not just some sketch that i am making but its more about what kind of visual story do i want the reader to see. It gave me a wider understanding of what illustrations are capable of and how it can change the entire experience of the story.

This entire book was made on gift culture and i thank Judith for giving me this amazing experience.
Originally written in english eventually was translated in turkish.  Published in turkey by Dogan Novus publishing house, Istanbul. She is looking for a publishing house to print it in english.

Here are few of the illustrations from the book.

The tree with two branches

The university of life

The test

The day when mojud went mad

You are right

Joe's new boat

The gazelle and the ant

Its really out there :)

Trendsetter magazine interview

My interview in Trendsetter magazine , August 2014 issue, Istanbul

English translation of the interview

Its called " Turkish coffee"

It represents thousands of eyes that have been observing the passage of culture and civilizations over the years. Turkish coffee is placed within a crescent moon that holds the story of istanbuls past, present and future. Lost in the coffee stain is the unheard voices of the spirits that walked and will walk over her.

Which parts of İstanbul is your favourites?
I love Isteklal street for it represents the melting pot and the order in chaos of the city in a smaller scale.

Where in İstanbul do you feel good and feel like you belong there and why?
The humid sea makes me feel at home, walking along the sea eating misir (corn) satisfies all my senses. And the other place i love is being with mother's of my friends who take such good care as the land is described " Anadolu "

What do you see when you look at İstanbul? Where do you see the city from?
When i see the city from a foreign artist point of view I see stories of creative revolution.

How would you describe İstanbul and how and with whom do you experience the city?
I travel istanbul with the curiosity of a child, to me it represents the quote
" The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change.” – Heraclitus

What are the things you like and don’t like about İstanbul?
I love cig Kofte and i don't like streets where i don't get cig kofte practically nowhere

Thank you so much Seda Meşeli Allard and ilknur editor of trendsetter magazine

"If being an artist was so easy everyone would be one "

Moeka the little japanese girl

My first ceramic piece that got sold.

Last week i was in a ceramic studio/factory/corporate office don't know what to call it. Here they let artists come and experiment on their blank ceramic objects like tiles, plates, vase etc. So my friend burcu invited me and i went, i was well received there and was given a desk with my colours and brushes. The first object that i started off was a small square white clay tile. With a tiny round brush i started painting it. After an hour a group of japanese tourist arrived and were guided by a local from the "industry" explaining about the pots, the traditional art there blah blah blah basically all touristy things. One of the comments i remember is 

" here we invite students to come and learn, students take four to five years to learn this art, all they do is copy the work of the master. look Here is a piece made by a student, as you can see its immature. But look here this is a work of a master  an usta , so beautiful so detailed "

I was just taken aback by this entire explanation, but i just let it pass. After all this explanation the tourists take a walk around in the studio looking at the artists do the paintings on the ceramics. Group after group kept coming and going and i noticed how some of them were found of my work since it was very different from the traditional style, no colours only strong black lines and figures not so easy to understand. I just smiled back at them said hello and continued painting. After 4 hours of painting , there arrived one more japanese group. There was this teenaged girl, who did not give a damn about what the guide was explaining , she just stood in front of my table looking with an awe as to what i was making. after few minutes the guide asked the group to move to the next space, they all left including this girl. After 5 mins though this girl returned with her mother and started saying something in japanese to me , to which my response was smile. Then they went and got the guide to translate, so the deal was they girl wanted to buy my work. I was extremely happy and surprised. But i said its incomplete and not cooked, she said its ok and all of a sudden out of the blue the guide just snatched the  piece out of my hand and gave it to her. After this he said "photo, photo !!" and i posed with the girl , took a photo. Then he said signature , put your signature. Also which i did not very happily. The girl asked me to write her name, "Moeka". After few minutes the girl her mother the guide and my first ever ceramic art was gone pufff!!

This entire incident happened in maybe 5 mins. 

After which everyone around me my teachers other students kept congratulating me. I went to drink tea alone, i sat under the shadow in this massive concrete box. And i was wondering, why was i SAD?

There were two possible reasons in my head. 

1. I was so full of ego and pride that someone liked my work and i was so easy on giving it away even though it was not finished and was incomplete. I did not care about my art at all, i was too full of myself. 

2. I was so involved in my art that someone taking it out of hand did not bother me, what bothered me is that i could not complete my work.

I accepted that the man took the work out of hand and gave it away cause its his duty in this factory, his role is to sell things and he does not think about the artist , all his thinks about is selling the art. Later he came back and demanded for the photos we took. And when we asked him why he did not address this situation more kindly, he said it's none of our business to ask such questions.

Next day i went back to have a talk with the manager of this big factory, he said thats how the guides are here, they are just doing their job , don't expect any humility or gratitude from them and brushed us off. Later that day one of the fellow workers in the studio told us about how they exploit artists and their work. Each artist spends hours/days/ months in preparing a traditional complete piece. For which he or she is given for example 10$ per piece of small square tile, this tile is sold to the customers at a price which ranges between 150$ - 200$. It does not matter how many hours, how much detail or love you put into it. 

Accepting all this i continued painting the new plate that was given to me. My teacher felt guilty for all that had happened the other day . He taught me how to use the colours and specially the turquoise paint which is the most difficult to work with. And later when i requested him if could take the second piece i was preparing he smiled and said yes. That was the last day i went to this insane concrete ceramic factory. A factory where all the rich and vip's come to see the work of the rich at heart. The artist sitting and painting and moulding the same thing over and over again. Such is life.

"If being an artist was so easy everyone would be one "

other artists / teachers working in the studio

The second piece that i painted 

 Apparently i was the first student in the last 8 years since the place has been created to have sold a piece while it was being made, even before it was complete or cooked.

And i was thinking about the comment the guide keeps telling all the tourist.

"Here is a piece made by a student, as you can see its immature. But look here this is a work of a master  an usta , so beautiful so detailed "

Today i wait for my cooked piece of art to arrive , brucu said she would get it. Fingers crossed :)

And so it arrived my first self painted, glazed and cooked ceramic plate

The mayan whale

The mayan whale is one of my latest experiments with water colour and ink. She has taken four months to take shape. Conceived on a plesent evening in izmir with friends. With the colours playing in I can feel my language of sketching under sudden transition.

Sculptors journey

Gundonumu farm in the outskirts of istanbul hosted a one day exhibition of my art work .It was an amazing place to showcase, right under the dappling light of the chestnut trees.

I displayed wine bottle art and few sketches made during the giftival istanbul 2013.

Experimenting with water colours

Experimenting with new mediums.

Vishnu's conch

Shibaaaah

Swadhistaana

My new set of kurtas called Swaadisthaana are out. They are put up in Aponia store in galata ,istiklal Istanbul .

Some of my framed art work is also open for sale in the same store.

http://aponiastore.com/

Swaadhistaana / second chaakara / navel / sexuality / creativity / intuition

Kurtas put up in Aponia store in 3 colours, mango yellow, turquoise and sky blue.