Scarves and saris carry Bengaluru skyline & heritage sites

BENGALURU: For artist, writer, poetess, author, avid photographer, fashion designer, pranic healing student and social activist Minku Buttar, art is her joy and never ending passion.  “Art and life are vibrant, diverse and playful, a never ending celebration, an emotional liberation in the heart of the ebb and flow of the finite and infinite and to be seen with a spirit of experimentation,” she says.  

Armed with an active imagination and the joy of never ending travels, Bengaluru-based Minku says she is an enchanted spectator, blending imagery derived from the photographs she takes of modern and contemporary iconic skylines with its chaotic structures on one hand, and on the other, the ancient serene heritage monuments and meditative temples.

The old constructed edifices, ornate domes act as geometric counterpoints to the angular, representing stability, integrity and old fashioned charm. “My mixed media and artistic geometry results in somewhat quintessentially impressionistic art demonstrating the power of light and dark on the emotional influence of a structure in ancient lands and now in modern, reviving fond memories and legacies to behold,” she says.

The artist doesn’t plan the compositions, materials or scale in advance, but the waiting and wandering around, eventually brings to life and form, the collage of her travel memories. The digital photography with acrylic and oil paints creates 3-D layered impressions on her spontaneous, but careful choices of canvas — stone, wood, metal, fabric and glass. The value of such art is in the uniqueness of the interpretation: what the artist sees is far beyond the normal realm of comprehension — akin to visual magic.

Art for her is not just limited to canvas, but also transpired on pure silk scarves, saris and handbags. Her saris and scarves are vibrant and vivacious, quite a reflection of herself.  Her fashion label Minske will soon be available at a retail outlet in Indiranagar, Bengaluru.

Recently, her show at the Mysore Fashion Week was well received. She composes art work from her series of photographs and water colours and then does digital art onto fabric. Each piece is one of a kind with no repetitions. There is one Chanderi sari that contains seven slides of sunrise to sunset in the Maldives.