The Laughing Cow

Sidharth is an artist with a difference in the contemporary art landscape of artists in the country. I have always been amazed by his connection with nature and the meticulous research that goes into every work. In the era of computer generated art and studio assistants, Sidharth stands out as he does not even use commercially available colours. The skills that he learnt at Namgyal monastery help him derive his colours and shades from Mother Nature. He uses natural pigments, vegetable dyes and his intrinsic knowledge of the topography to make his own colours in various hues. Always very curious to learn and imbibe more, I have, in my association of many years with him, seen him implement the best techniques from the Chinese, Japanese and now Russian schools of art. He also makes his own paper and due to his use of natural colours, you see a luminosity in his works which is seldom seen in works by other artists.

I think his connection with Mother Nature was an influence on his series on the ‘Cow’, considered and worshipped as a mother figure in India. He focuses on the cow worshipped as Kamadhenu to the cow in the industrialized urban environment today, eating garbage and then producing milk which has pollutants that cause disease. His canvases display a complete story that focuses on the worshipped Kamadhenu and a satirical comparison to this is made through a woman who runs her home with all products derived from milk. The ritual dismembering of the sacrifice is evoked in the dehumanization of the perception of the cow, reduced as it were to cuts and its parts, as against the various deities residing in Kamadhenu. He calls this work ‘Laughing Cow’ – his satirical take on the evolution and journey of a cow from the ancient times to the urbanized modern world.

Mr. Kapil Chopra