Exploring the Contemporary Through Folk Imagery and Symbols

-By Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

Symbols and images do not become established overnight. It takes centuries for them to find a lasting place in the collective consciousness of a people. Working with such folk images and symbols, Dr. Rakhee Kumari brings a distinctive folk inflection to modern art, developing an artistic language of her own. Womanhood, sensitivity, social values, and the vital force of life have been present in her art in one form or another from the very beginning. Over the course of her thirty-year artistic journey, she has established a distinct identity, working across graphic art and painting. Her solo exhibition at the Bihar Museum in Patna brings together a selection of works spanning her early practice to the present. The exhibition, which opened on 6 October, will remain on view until 5 November.

Beginning with lithography and woodcut, she went on to explore other printmaking techniques. She is now drawing upon the technical characteristics of printmaking in her paintings on canvas. Most importantly, three decades of experience have enabled her to develop a distinctive artistic language and identity. At first glance, the influence of folk art on her work is unmistakable. Yet her practice is not merely an exercise in adhering to tradition. Rather, she engages with tradition as a means of exploring and revealing the complexities of the contemporary moment. The influence of Bihar’s folk art on her work is therefore entirely natural. At the same time, the symbols and images found in folk art are also an integral part of modern artistic expression.

Drawing upon symbols such as women, fish, elephants, trees, flowers, and snakes, Rakhee Kumari creates images that are both contemporary and multilayered. The range of meanings that unfolds in her works is rarely encountered in such abundance in the work of other artists. Her compositions possess a certain openness, allowing viewers not only an immediate visual experience but also the possibility of interpreting and reinterpreting their meanings. This combination of accessibility and communicative power becomes a defining feature of her art. At present, she works across almost all major printmaking techniques, including etching, drypoint, lithography, aquatint, silkscreen, and woodcut.

Each symbol in her work carries a distinct meaning, deeply rooted in the realities of life. Fish appear in certain contexts within Indian religious traditions, but their practical and material associations are equally significant. Similarly, symbols such as the elephant, lion, and bird offer considerable scope for shifts and layers of meaning. Through these symbols, she expresses emotions and ideas associated with love, power, control, and coexistence. Her treatment of feminine power reveals an alert and discerning perspective that goes beyond superficial notions and invites deeper reflection.

Fish and birds, while associated with purity and auspiciousness, also embody numerous material dimensions of life. Likewise, elephants and flowers carry a range of spiritual and material associations, lending her works an openness of meaning. Works such as Ready to Fly, Womb, Women Power, Click, Chalte-Chalte, Handle the Nature with Care, The Sun, Life Cycle, and Bapu Ke Teen Bandar bring the conceptual dimension of her art into focus. In these works, symbols serve purposes beyond visual appeal: they also open up questions concerning life, nature, feminine existence, and social values.