These beautiful pieces are part of a series by fourth-year illustration student Tia Nagaraj.
Nagaraj said she made these artworks to ground herself after dealing with the stress of work. College had her working purely digital for a long time, with short deadlines for meticulous works. It caused Nagaraj to feel burnt out and dissociated from a “fine artist,” which is her core identity. This piece helped Nagaraj return to her roots by using many traditional elements and combining them with digital. She wanted to create something that is purely for artistic inspiration instead of pragmatic reasons.
Nagaraj took a lot of inspiration from her Indian roots in creating this series. For instance, the the faded blue used in these images comes from old Bollywood posters. The two pieces are about the philosophies “yoga” and “purva mimasa.”
According to Nagaraj, yoga is the combining of two important principles: the mind and body. The belief is that by mastering the connection between the two, an individual is able to attain complete freedom. The first image symbolizes this idea through the hinting of blood and guts intertwined.
The second image visualizes the philosophy of “purva mimasa,” a belief that stresses a sense of duty for material gain. It is believed that those who live purely for themselves are living in vain and that a sense of community is important in building a society. The piece uses Aggrabattis, incense sticks that are essential to performing rites, to symbolize this: the way the smoke dispels was meant to show the contrast between the many versus the one.
Nagaraj is an incredible and intelligent artist who is inspired by her culture and the world around her. Her art displays this perfectly. If you want to see more of her jaw-dropping work, her instagram is @tiafafloof.
