Rhea Madan
Portfolio
Chaos Central: Night Time Specials
Chaos Central: Night Time Specials
Size: 22” x 15”
Medium: Acrylic on 300 GSM paper
Description: This painting is a portrayal of my nightmare disorder. The symbols placed around my sleeping form are representative of my fears; the one eyed-flower with teeth as petals alludes to the feeling of being completely out of place and abnormal. Dreams (or nightmares) are very subjective and personal, therefore no shade in this piece is a direct brown or grey. All shades have been mixed to create a unique hue, to show the individualization of the subconscious itself – from where nightmares appear. Having suffered through this disorder for many years, I used dull and sepia tones in the painting to express the gloom and despair. The monochromatic tones layered in the background show the monotony of my nightmares.
Chaos Central : Etched Emotions
Chaos Central: Etched Emotions
Size: 28” x 18”
Medium: Charcoal on 300 GSM paper
Description: Second in the series focusing on my nightmare disorder, this piece is an ode to the emotions I felt during a challenging period in my life. My PTSD birthed a nightmare disorder that caused frustration and hopelessness as I had less control over my mental health. Reliving and reconstructing memories while undergoing therapy felt like my brain was screaming for help and cracking up as I was trying to make my way out of a dark void. The black and white tones of the drawing are a reflection of a life that seems to lack color and vibrance. To communicate the emotions underlying my composition, I used charcoal as a medium to show depth and contrast through the weight of the strokes. Adding value to the background by creating a rough texture, I want to draw attention to the panic engulfing me.
Chaos Central: Melt Me
Chaos Central: Melt Me
Size: 25” x 11”
Medium: Mannequin head, paper clay, acrylic paint and syringes
Description:The last piece in this series is a representation of the sense of vulnerability I was experiencing during this phase of my life. The four injections being inserted into the brain are a reference to the emotions that appeared to be introduced almost by force into my head. The four syringes are intentional as that was the number of possible diagnoses of my tests.
The darker colors are symbolic of evil (green), darkness (black), depression (blue), and violence (red). These colors are bleeding from my nose, eyes, and ears to portray how overwhelming and consuming the experiences were on my senses. Combining the mannequin head with a similarly colored canvas, painted using drip technique, I wanted to draw attention to the aftermath of the mess created by the mental chaos.
Phase Me Not
Size: 19” x 13”
Medium: Pen and watercolour on 300 GSM paper
Description: As I overcome the struggles related to my mental health, I have developed a strong feeling of power and strength within myself. A loud calmness, if you may. In this self-portrait, I stay unphased by the lurking tornado in the background, representing the chaos in my surroundings. I sit still and hold my ground (almost to the point of boredom here). Elements such as the diary and a cup of tea have been included as they contribute to my sense of calm. To depict that I am out of reach and unaffected by these storms, I chose to use a grayscale color tone as I drew myself. Selecting watercolors for the background, I wanted to capitalize on this medium’s translucency to depict the weakening impact of the storm on me. The fluidity of the medium is a representation of how difficulties don’t have a defined shape or size and the impact of every storm is a personal experience.
One of Many
One of Many
Size: 19” x 13”
Medium: Pen and watercolor on 300 GSM paper
Description: It’s sadly old news that being a girl in India comes with many fears, among those is of rape. For me, atleast, it’s where my mind jumps to once I sense danger. The above is a storyboard of an incident that impacted my understanding of how women are viewed in my society. The fluid nature of the watercolor reflected the shifting recall of a past event, coloring in only our clothes highlighted my most prolific memories. In 50 degree celsius weather, my friend and I drove to purchase games from our local shop to beat summer break boredom. One would assume it’s natural to wear shorts in the blazing heat, however we were met with judgment and uncomfortable stares due to our attire. What surprised me is that women too mocked us as if to imply that our choice of clothing was an invitation for lewd comments in the first place.
Eusapia World
Size: 11” x 8”
Medium: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign
Description: ‘As above, so below, underwater a city grows.’ Inspired by Invisible Cities (Italo Cavino) as an exercise to push my imagination, this is my interpretation of Eusapia – “ No city is more inclined than Eusapia to enjoy life and flee care. And to make the leap from life to death less abrupt, the inhabitants have constructed an identical copy of their city, underground.” This city is constructed with Disney and Pixar houses/castles. What else says enjoying life and fleeing care like childhood delight? The different color palettes can evoke separate emotions – with the green hinting at danger while the black and white denoting death.
Bereft of choice
Bereft of choice
Size: 40” x 30”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Description:The incident mentioned above made me ask questions and start conversations with friends, relatives and others about how safe they felt in Delhi. I drew inspiration from their responses as I painted multiple faces. Fear does not discriminate and is quick to show in one’s eyes, which is why I chose to show different eye colors. The purpose of a dull, greyish background was to highlight a sense of hopelessness and show the contrast between that and real life, full-of-color women.The women have been painted with a covering on their faces to depict their sense of trepidation of attracting unwarranted attention. The fragmentation of the faces was to portray the notion of distortion that arises from such situations.
Slumber No More
Size: 20” x 20”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Description: “Meditation provides a way of learning how to let go.” – John Welwood. I found this to be true as I started practicing meditation which allowed me to channel my anxious energies enabling me to move on from past relationships. Selecting a round canvas, I wanted to depict my realization that all of life comes full circle where we find and lose ourselves as we grow. The anatomical drawing represents that these changes are internal. The third eye signifies a renewed intuition and is the origin of growth in my painting. Since it birthed this sensation and had a somewhat calming effect, I decided to paint it blue. The focus on energies in this piece and the association with heat led me to select yellow and orange ombre for the background. The halo of OM represents ultimate consciousness. I wanted to paint it white however, in the Hindu religion, all religious writings are written with natural red color and I wanted to respect that.
Pop-Star Dreams
Pop-Star Dreams
Size: 24” x 18”
Medium: Neon Paints and pigments on black paper
Description: I’m a child of imagination and like many other children, I once had dreams of being a pop-star. With age came the wisdom that my voice best be unheard by an audience, however my fantasy to have my own ‘album cover’ remained. The theme has always been around adventure. Over the years, my choices have changed but at this moment in time I’m certain the above image is what I would like it to look like. I created the composition as such to indicate that through nature I found the most excitement. I chose to explore my love for water in this piece, and painted people diving and melting into the water to portray the notion of letting loose and ‘going with the flow’ literally. The unnatural parting of the waterfall is to portray a sense of secrecy, a magical find. I chose neon colors to reflect a retro color-scheme to hint at nostalgia, of wanting to be in my idea of adventure. As an album cover the composition really stood out on black paper, which was the desired effect.
Isolation Challenge
Size: 9″ x 9″
Medium: Camera, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop
Description: Taking part in Parson’s ‘everyday objects of isolation’ challenge – I photographed items that best represented how I spent my time during the pandemic and from this collage-grid I landed on attempting to make a character out of the items I see around me most frequently. Experimenting with Photoshop, I took my character on different adventures – with Wall-E, diving with fish, and traveling to another universe with Rick and Morty.
Chaos Central, Again
Chaos Central, Again
Size: 14” x 19”
Medium: Watercolor on 300 GSM paper, Adobe InDesign
Description: Continuing on the journey of dealing with my nightmare disorder, I have been recently recommended by my therapist to write down what I dream about. Now having collected a plethora of horror stories, I wonder about publishing them sometimes. The painting above is a close example of what I imagine the book cover to look like if I ever decide to pursue that thought. Fear is common amongst all humans and we tend to fear what we don’t know much about, hence the choice of showing a shark underwater. Since I have found some solace in my writing, I decided to make this piece less scary than the previous ones and paint a woman floating rather calmly underwater – a metaphor for being calm in the storm. The choice of color and medium were both a nod to water and it’s movements.
It’s Home, Lah!
Size: 18” x 12”
Medium: Colour pencils, coloured alcohol markers and transparent sheet on 300 GSM paper
Description: Attending boarding school in Singapore was a turning point in my life. I selected Marina Bay Sands, a landmark Singaporean building as the subject of this piece. Everytime I crossed this magnificent building, I was inspired to dream big and be creative, much like the building itself. The first image is a pen rendering of the building using blue color pencils representing the water surrounding this island city. I chose an aerial perspective as the view from the top makes everything down below seem small and simple. The second image has an overlay of a colorful drawing of my dorm room. Placing the transparent sheet to show MBS through a window suggests the support of the boarding community in making my big dreams and ideas seem achievable. With the use of bright markers, I wanted to convey the amalgamation of positive emotions I experienced during my time there.
Quick Pick-me-up
Quick Pick-me-up
Size: 19” x 13”
Medium: Acrylic on ply board
Description: I was made privy to the above sight about a thousand times through university. Like most college students, I survived on coffee. I still do. This still life captures the pile of discarded cups in a corner of my room. I chose to work on a ply board because of the similarity in color with the Starbucks packaging. The purpose of the monotone blue wall was to highlight the main object in the foreground of the painting. With the color palette of this piece, I wanted to add depth and dimension through the creation of tonal contrast.
Redolent Reveries
Size: 22” x 15”
Medium: Colored pen on paper
Description: I grew up learning an Indian traditional dance “Kathak,” as well as Ballet and Jazz. Somewhere towards the end of my teenage life I stopped dancing. However, the feeling of expressing myself through dance is one I can never forget. I would feel lighter and sated after a rehearsal or lesson. I chose to portray movement with a mix of bright colors to portray joy. I chose to show figures of different ages through size to indicate that I grew up with the activity. Since I could not decide on one dance form to show, I decided to sketch freestyle movements instead. I wanted to focus more on the feeling than on the type of dance. Drawing free-hand with colored pens was not only fun but added a sense of childishness that I wanted to achieve.
Consider Me Amused
Size: 18” x 12”
Medium: Acrylic paint on transparent acrylic sheet
Description: I was astounded that in certain states in India, cows and bulls are also married. A ceremony is conducted by a priest in the presence of witnesses and the animals are dressed up for the occasion. As I researched further, I realized India is a land of many ritualistic beliefs. Challenging my core thought process, I chose to translate this by using an unconventional technique of a reverse painting.
Street Surprises
Size: 11″ x 9″
Medium: Camera
Description: Melbourne, Australia is a city packed with graffiti and murals. On a quest to capture the essence of the city I photographed these three existing pieces of art. The frame in the first photo is filled to the margins with objects varying in color, proportion and design the way Melbourne is with people from all walks of life. I felt it important to include the Aboriginal community in a representation of Australia and this particular angle best suggests the juxtaposition between the two cultures. The act of emoting through art is valued in the city and prevalent throughout its busy lanes – I have included one of my favourite street-surprises.
Change of Thought
Size: 19” x 14”
Medium: Double E pencil and watercolor on 300 GSM paper
Description:Dragonflies have been known to be symbolic of change – a sort of rebirth. I came across a post on social media where I read about these creatures and it inspired me to create a piece around the theme of transformation. In my attempts to form a strong sense of self and overcome traumas, positive reaffirmation really helped me. The lightbulbs in this artwork are symbolic of ideas/thoughts and the small dragonflies growing within are representative of bringing a change within these thoughts. Gradually in the piece, from left to right, the bulbs transform into complete dragonflies which depict the wholeness of constantly evolving the way one’s mind works. I chose black and white for this piece to highlight the negative spaces, leaving room for interpretation and creating a flow between the elements of the piece.
Copyright @Rhea Madan