2026 참여작가 · 인도작가
수리야스나타 모한티
SURYASNATA MOHANTY
GABHASTIMAN: The Illuminator
Acrylic on Canvas · 137.16 x 137.16 cm · 제작연도 2023
ARTIST NOTE
Gabhastman: The Illuminator invokes Surya, the Sun, as understood within Indian philosophical traditions—not as a literal deity or iconographic figure, but as a principle of illumination, consciousness and vital energy. The painting translates this metaphysical idea into an abstract language of colour, structure, materiality and light.
A saturated field of earthen orange establishes the work’s dominant atmosphere, evoking the intensity and warmth of solar presence. Across this ground, fragmented black linear passages form an unstable, almost architectural framework, interrupted by traces of blue, ochre and yellow. At the centre, a dense lattice of fine, interwoven marks gathers into a luminous zone, suggesting radiance emerging from within rather than being imposed upon the surface.
The painting is built through successive layers of acrylic, with scraping, overlapping, dripping and partial erasure allowing earlier marks to remain perceptible beneath later interventions. This accumulated surface gives the work a tactile, weathered quality. Illumination here becomes an act of revelation: light is not simply depicted, but gradually disclosed through layers of material, darkness and gesture.
PROFILE
SURYASNATA MOHANTY (b.1983) is a contemporary Indian visual artist whose practice is marked by a powerful engagement with colour, texture, and layered visual narratives. Working primarily in painting on large formats, she has developed a distinctive idiom that combines forceful backgrounds with nuanced chromatic depth, inviting sustained contemplation and experiential viewing. Her paintings have been selected for several prestigious platforms, most notably the 65th National Exhibition of Art (2026) and 64th National Exhibition of Art (2025) of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, and 1st India Art Architecture & Design Biennale (2023) at Red Fort, Delhi. Suryasnata has featured in prominent all-India juried exhibitions conducted by institutions such as the Hyderabad Art Society, State gallery of Art Hyderabad, Indian Academy of Fine Arts (Amritsar), Eastern Foundation of Art and Culture (Lucknow), Sri Dharshini Kalaikoodam (Chennai) and Tagore National Exhibition (Bhopal). Her works have been showcased at notable venues including National Gallery of Modern Art and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, The Lalit, Delhi, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi, Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, Takhman 28, Udaipur, Contemporary Art Gallery, Jaipur, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai. She has held two solo exhibitions in New Delhi and participated in over 55 group shows, besides 15 national level art camps and workshops. Suryasnata Mohanty’s artistic achievements have been honoured with several awards, including the Hyderabad Art Society Award (2026), State Gallery of Art Hyderabad Award (2026), Sri Dharshini Kalaikoodam Star Award (2026), Rashtriya Rajat Samman (2023) of Kalavart Nyas Ujjain, Royal Gold Medal Award (2025) of Royal Indian Academy of Art, Gulbarga, EFAC Annual Award (2025) and Bharat Nirman Award (2025). A moment of national prominence came in 2023 when a kalash (clay pot) painted by her during Lalit Kala Akademi’s art camp for ‘Amrit Kalash Mahotsav’ was held by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji to mark the culmination of the Meri Maati Mera Desh campaign. Her practice continues to assert a strong contemporary presence within India’s evolving visual art discourse.
