Woman Flying A Kite

Art Seen

A little painting, the size of a postcard, caught my eye at the Asian Museum’s, Maharaja exhibition (April 2012). The opaque watercolor, dominated by an eggplant colored background, is of a woman flying a kite. Perhaps the string has cut her hands as both palms seem to exude a red substance. Blood? Perhaps. Or maybe it is simply the color of the kite’s string. I’d like to think it is blood. That makes the painting more profound and poetic. The woman is in profile. The plaque accompanying the painting tells you that this is a nazar painting, a gift for the Maharaja. Kite flying is symbolic of the woman’s feeling for a loved one who is far away. She misses him.

Below is the nazar painting and my response to it. My painting is a mixed media collage on Japanese rice paper. The opposite sketches are from my notebooks. All are in response to the exhibition.