JOIN USIhad never operated computers before my retirement. Then my daughter gifted it to me and she used to make sure that I use it everyday. She would give me a paragraph to type and I would struggle typing with one finger,” says artist Santosh Jain, who has been making digital art for the past four years.
Exhibiting a few works from her collection in the city, Jain has infused different elements into her artworks, “It is a new and growing medium. Of course people will criticise it. But I don't pay any attention to such criticism. The truth is that working on digital medium is not as easy as it looks.”
The exhibition has three themes – gods and angles, old masters and women. The photographs in the artworks have been taken by her all across the world. “I use these photos and the rest of the work is made digitally.
Even the painted parts are done digitally. When I began I had a lot of difficulties
but with each trial you learn something new,” she shares.
A lot of her artworks have used butterflies and cats. “Cats happen to be a pet but they aren’t too attached, they have a personality of their own. Butterflies on the other hand represent dreams for me,” explains Jain. She has also worked on the theme of violence against women. Her work titled, ‘Stalker’, reflects the violence against women prevalent in the society.
In her artwork titled ‘Dream on’, the butterflies are the dreams that the woman has inside her. “In this post-coital scenario, there is a man who had his fun. He is least bothered with the desires of the woman now. So they come out on their own and in this scene I have depicted them in the form of a butterfly.”
Her works also capture her personal stories which are merged with the historical events.