Artist's statement
Priya trained at the " Ecole de Martenot " in Paris and the " Byam Shaw School of Art " in London where she gained her Fine Arts Diploma. She later studied Calligraphy with chinese masters. An early interest in Eastern culture resulted in a year long journey of inspiration to India, Sri Lanka , Thailand and later to China. "After 7 hours of meditation a day , paintings were flowing out of my hands effortlessly " she says. Priya's urge to convey an aspect of meditation in her work ( without needing to sit for 7 hours a day ) was met by Shan Fan, a contemporary chinese artist in Hamburg who taught her about the use of asymmetrical compositions, the sense of reduction and the value of emptiness alongside strong activity in a painting.
In Australia Priya began to focus on representations of the human Body having for many years derived a deep sense of joy and satisfaction doing so. A year of intense work led Priya to her own distinctive style which finds expression in two different sets of works: the " Sensual Absractions " and the "Zen-Drawings ".
Both derive from the body but the " Sensual abstractions " are completely abstract whilst the " Zen- Drawings " are abstracted figures. In the " Sensual Absractions " especially the artist invites the viewer to feel rather than to think about what they see.
Apart from the obvious sensual qualities of these oil and acrylic painting installations (the 40x40cm canvasses are always hung in a series) they also convey a feeling of peacefulness and silence. As in Tantra the body is transcended to reach higher realms. " Combining silence and sensuality is the marriage of the Buddha and the world, of Nothingness and Everythingness , of Stillness and Aliveness ". Abstraction best serves her in her aim to convey a spiritual quality through her work - it helps to still the viewer into feeling and Being - "a possible bridge to one's true nature."
In the "Zen-Drawings" Priya explores different aspects of Being through an expressive, calligraphic mixed media . Within this recognizable style Priya constantly invents new ways of representations using different materials thus underlining the freshness of these delightful and innovative drawings.
" The figure is the catalyst for what wants to be expressed through me. I try not to control the result but rather to let it emerge. Annihilate deliberateness, be desireless, don't want anything and you have the perfect drawing. "
" Life- Drawing keeps me in the moment - I hope I can inspire this in the viewer. "