Subrat's goddess in a Shiva temple

Baroda artist Subrat Kumar Behra's goddess images pasted on the walls of a 10th century Shiva temple became a lesson in the charismatic characteristics of contours as much as it spoke of his printmaking prowess and his love for antiquity in a world invaded by technology. On Cultures Through Collecting, a lithograph created with charcoal showed the ingenuity and brilliance of the artist.

Subrat's translation of the goddess of birth from a sculpture on the walls of abandoned erosion tenored temple spoke about many things other than Shiva being among the supreme teachers of ultimate awareness, understanding, and knowledge.

Pasted on the lateral wall of the temple pond overlooking the Bindusagar Lake, it echoed in a quaint way both transformation, and renewal along with a quiet lyricism. One thought of the many mythic stories of Shiva expounded on the timeless principles of vocal and instrumental music, which is known to lead to liberation (moksha) without strain.

Contoured in deft and deep relief features with extraordinary detail, this impressive illustration demonstrated the masterful craftsmanship of tenth-century artists working in Odisha.

"I took inspiration from various religious tales, mythological stories, folk tales, and day to day news. The aim of my work is to look at how the process of storytelling works. What the narrator of the story wants to say. What is it that the narrator did not tell us? What were the different kinds of techniques that could be used to evoke the various rasas in the viewer's mind in this modern millennium?"

Subrat depicts the youthful deity sitting crossed legged in poise. He has emphasised the prowess of the deity through a strong frontal pose with wide shoulders and hips, and attire and jewellery in a modernist mode. This particular drawing's detailed contours, pleasing size, and complete charm make it a superb example of medieval Odisha Indian sculpture.

"I chose this image among the many sculptures done on the walls of the temple," says Subrat.

"I was studying the sculptures and realised that the body of the goddess is modelled with exceptional naturalism," he added.

Subrat recreates the goddess with broad shoulders and robust thighs emphasised by a fleshy yet tapered waist. When he shares an image on his phone you see that it is carved in extremely deep relief, the stone appears multi-dimensional and capacious.

Of particular note is the smile on her face, and the way her odhini is created, a detail which is typically incised rather than carved in openwork.

Beautifully contoured in light and tidy lines, the subject, and style of the figure of the Goddess, circa 10th century, make for a very rare modernist sculpture. Beautiful and unusual traits such as the large forehead are paired with substantial and voluptuous forms, making the goddess a fine example of the rounded physique of period sculpture.

Subrat's 10 drawings done in the mokulito impressive and particularly animating, as she sits in a gracefully instead of stiff stillness. This figure of a goddess is a masterful depiction of feminine strength.

The humble and rustic looking Baroda based Subrat who also hails from Odisha says: "For this work, I collected stories of people from around this place. These oral histories inspired me to incorporate mokulito technique as a part of my work. What stood out in these stories was the idea of how any culture, people, or object as a life cycle – it is conceived, born, exists and eventually dies. The title inspired by James Still's essay named 'On Collecting Art and Culture', too helps express the convoluted understanding of value through the notion of permanence and preservation attached to it."

For curators Premjish Achari and Jagannath Panda, the walls of the pond flanking the Lord Shiva temple became a befitting backdrop for the work of the brilliant Baroda artist

Subrat Behra.