Message in a Bottle

Message in a Bottle entry for an art contest organized by the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat At the College of Fine Arts, we were given a topic 'Letter Box': Works of Art that captured the essence of writing a letter that seemed now lost with the Internet Revolution. My art work, titled 'Message in a bottle', was an interactive installation which communicated this very essence. Here like the title suggests, people could leave back a piece of their emotion that was held dormant inside them. The Installation comprised of an empty bottle placed on a heap of sand. A person could drop their message by writing on a piece of paper, rolling it, inserting it into the bottle and sealing it with a cork. This Art Work was awarded a place in the “Special Mention Category" which was curated by Prof. Dr. Joseph A. Henselmann.


The center piece of the painting (Venus trying to cover her bare body) is often criticized for her unrealistic posture which often opens up for discussions. In other words ‘Venus’, the goddess of love, born from the sea, is portrayed as a desirable fantasy figure. The beauty of the work is it’s mysterious composition.
In my rendition of the painting, I have shown the form that represents Venus as an empty region cut-out in the canvas. By doing this I wanted to liberate Venus from criticism and voyeurism. The male gaze is so pervasive in Art that it is taken for granted. Females are shown offering up their femininity for the pleasure of an absent male spectator. “Birth of Venus”, painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1486 AD, is among the most treasured masterpieces of the Renaissance and it has served its purpose long enough. Today its my chance to liberate Venus (femininity) to express the freedom we have as women.

Venus has left the Building