Prafulla Mohanti

Prafulla Mohanti was raised in the village of Nanpur in Odisha, a place he still returns to every year. Though Mohanti moved to London after graduating with a degree in architecture from the Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai, his work is inextricably linked to his upbringing: “My painting is rooted in my village culture, which is influenced by yoga and tantra.” (M. Irwin, ‘Prafulla Mohanti’, Ocula, 2020) Rural Indian life and the symbols associated with it, particularly his mother’s bindi, permeate Mohanti’s visual and literary works. Mohanti captures spirituality in vivid colour and through a combination of pigment and precise forms in which no two paintings are alike. His works evoke the calmness that he feels while painting: “As I worked with colours and forms on large surfaces I felt free and relaxed.” (P. Mohanti, ‘Artist as a Writer’, Indian Literature Magazine, 1985, p. 115)