Untitled

Artist: Akkitham Narayanan
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 20 x 20 inches (50.8 × 50.8 cm)
Year: 2004

This vibrant abstract painting is a compelling exploration of geometry, color, and metaphysical thought. Structured through a grid-like arrangement of triangles, squares, and rectangles, the composition achieves a remarkable equilibrium between precision and poetic nuance. The artist masterfully employs formal elements, lines, circles, triangles, and grids—not merely as decorative motifs, but as symbolic vessels that resonate with deeper philosophical meaning. Echoing the visual language of yantras and mandalas, the canvas offers more than formalist abstraction; it becomes a site of contemplation, inviting viewers into a space where form and emptiness, order and chaos, coexist in quiet harmony.

Color plays a central role in activating the emotional and spiritual register of the work. Dominated by hues of red, gold-yellow, blue, and muted tones of gray and blue-gray, the palette is both bold and meditative. These colors are not flatly applied but layered in a manner reminiscent of stained glass, allowing light to refract through the surfaces in painterly textures. This subtle luminosity enhances the perception of depth within the otherwise flat planes, contributing to an effect that is both tactile and transcendent.

The artist’s use of geometry is neither rigid nor mechanical. Each shape seems to pulse with inner life, arranged with a mathematical clarity that paradoxically leads to emotional and spiritual openness. There is a dynamic interaction between light and shadow, color and void, which evokes a sense of stillness in motion. Despite the strict organization of forms, the canvas never feels static. Instead, it radiates an energy that is both cerebral and sensorial.

In the broader context of modern and contemporary Indian art, this work stands at the intersection of Western geometric abstraction and Eastern spiritual visual traditions. It reflects a lineage that includes tantric art, sacred architecture, and minimalist design, while also dialoguing with global modernist practices. The artist, informed by both indigenous aesthetics and international schooling, distills these influences into a language uniquely their own.

This painting is not merely to be looked at, it is to be entered. It asks the viewer to slow down, to inhabit the space between shapes and colors, to consider what lies beyond surface appearances. The result is an artwork that balances the formal with the transcendental, the visible with the invisible, an evocative meditation on the power of pure form to convey profound philosophical truths.