The Open Studio / Kotha Revanth
Kotha Revanth
Singaboyadu
Round eyes and a black moustache, remembered from childhood festivals
Turmeric yellow fills the whole face.
Two white eyes hold their black centres and do not look away.
The moustache curls up like a river bend drawn in ink.
A red mouth stays closed, a small square door.
Tiny flowers march around the headband.
Orange ears listen for drums we cannot hear.
The work
Kotha Revanth belongs to the Naikpod tribal community. He comes from Mulugu district. His village is full of rivers, trees, birds and animals. As a child he makes masks for festivals such as Laxmi Devara and Pothuraju. In Singaboyadu he paints a mask in watercolour on a small sheet. A yellow face stares out with round eyes, a red mouth and a curling black moustache. He does not copy the old forms. He gives them a new shape in his own visual language.
In the artist’s words
“My work is inspired by traditional festivals and community practices such as Laxmi Devara and Pothuraju. As children, we made masks and took part in cultural activities. I use mask making as a way to explore identity, tradition, ritual and memory. I am not trying to simply copy traditional forms. I want to reinterpret them through my contemporary visual language.”
- Theme
- Ritual masks and memory
- Material
- Watercolour on paper
- Size
- 29.7 × 21 cm
- Year
- 2026
- Edition
- 2
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- Suravaram Pratapa Reddy Telugu University
- From
- Mulugu district
- Code
- RC-520
