Many Lives Lived #75 1970s

In Tantra, art-making serves as a tool for contemplation, where geometric forms and symbolic imagery reflect the interplay of cosmic forces within body and mind. Coming from a generational line of artists who practiced tantric painting in and around Jaipur, Kalu Ram is regarded as one of the most individualistic and experimental artists to have worked in this field. In vibrant colours, these works from his Many Lives Lived series depict human, animal and hybrid figures locked in intense, visceral and often violent encounters. The works evoke a liminal realm where man and beast merge and chaotic acts of submission, purification and transcendence take place. Symbolism evoking the cycles of rebirth is drawn from rural and mythic narratives, and includes fire, the lingam (phallus), nāgas (serpent deities), and androgynous human forms in line with the Tantric principle of non-duality. Woven around the figures are lines of script that form a compositional device uniting the scenes and articulating teachings and reflections central to Tantric thought.