Plated Canvas
As Told By Sarasvathy TK
Was it the work of one painting, or of many, that led Sarasvathy TK to fall in love with painting? It seems almost like something from the story books.
She had it all planned out. She graduated with a degree in computer engineering. She was testing software quality assurance. She had clients like the Ministry of Defense in Singapore. So how did this software engineer become a hyperrealistic painter of delicious foods and dishes? What was Sarasvathy’s journey to becoming a skilled artist?
In the beginning, when I first got married, we used to go to art galleries. My visit to the Louvre changed the whole direction of my career.
I knew I was good at drawing. I wanted to continue that, so I started with simple drawings. Learning everything from YouTube, I had tried all kinds of mediums like pastels, acrylic, crayons, charcoal, etc. Then I started learning to paint.
I fell in love with oils because it gave me the space to evolve. It allowed me to make mistakes everywhere and to correct those mistakes.
Food is a daily object that we cannot live without.
Everybody has to have food.
No matter where we come from,
who we are, or what we are.
Food is one common
thing that connects everybody in the world.
When I went to all these art fairs, galleries, and exhibitions I found myself drawn to this realistic type of art. When I saw Tjalf Sparnaay’s beautiful burger paintings, it gave a different perspective to the same food that we see every day. All those minute details- it just blew my mind. I fell in love with that subject.
When I went to all these art fairs, galleries, and exhibitions I found myself drawn to this realistic type of art. When I saw Tjalf Sparnaay’s beautiful burger paintings, it gave a different perspective to the same food that we see every day. All those minute details- it just blew my mind. I fell in love with that subject.
Afterward, I found myself asking, “How does my food look as a painting?” I spent over 8 months searching for a painting of my food. It was to my surprise I couldn't find anything. Food is something whose abstract form is everywhere, but it has its real form too.
I couldn’t find representation of my cuisine in this real form. Even for the fact that Indian cuisine is being represented everywhere in the world in all forms, but not in the form of art. So I said, “Why not me? Let me do my part to put it out there.” And that's where it started.
Once I had decided I was going to paint food, there came the biggest question. There are thousands and thousands of recipes in Indian cuisine. Where are we going to start?
I was born in the southern part of India and there, idli is a very common breakfast. It's easy to make, but the preparation of the food is not. If I need an idli right now, I can’t get it. To get the batter, the rice has to be soaked for 6 hours. Then it needs to be fermented for another 6 hours or more. It's a two-day project and then you'll get it. But once you have the batter, the preparation is really easy. This is also a form of creativity.
The title of my exhibition is called Bhojan. Bhojan means a complete meal. I wanted to portray each and everything from the appetizer to the dessert. I also wanted to make it feel inclusive. You might not know a jalebi, but when you see a naan you yourself can relate. Whether it’s garlic naan, samosa, or mango lassi. I also wanted to portray that there is not one type of Indian food, there is much more beyond those dishes.
Each painting takes three months to prepare. There are three different processes involved and I do take a very long time to paint.
If I have to paint an idli, I have to cook fifty of them, decide which of them looks good, position them, and then comes the photography. After the photograph is the painting. Because of the minute textures and everything, I can't do live painting, or the food will go stale. So, I need to photograph them and then paint from the photos.
My next venture will be to grow as a community.
As I said, the preparation of Indian food requires a lot.
So, when I say I want to grow as a community,
I mean bringing the brands that are behind Indian food,
like whoever prepares the spices.
We have all enjoyed the Campbell's Soup can,
but I want to bring in these South Asian brands to be
a part of this art community.
Cooking alone is an art,
it takes a lot of time.
I want to put Indian food as a part of art history or museum culture for everybody to understand, relish, and enjoy the textures of food in its realistic form. It's a daily object around us but we don't see all those details. I want everybody to experience that joy and enjoy even the small pleasures around us.