The Open Studio / Leela sivani chellapilla
Leela sivani chellapilla
Untamed curiosity
Two eyes watch from deep inside a storm of leaves
Red like a warm wall at evening.
Pale leaves curl past, thin as onion skin.
In the middle, dark fur and two wet eyes.
Fine red threads lie over the face like veins on a leaf.
Gold petals drift but the eyes do not move.
Who is hiding here and who is looking?
The work
In Untamed curiosity, Leela Sivani Chellapilla paints a dark, furry face in the centre of a red canvas. Two pale eyes look out. Leaves and flowers in gold, rust and cream swirl around it. Thin red lines cross the face like a net. Chellapilla works in oil. For her, plants and animals stand in for human feeling. She calls them "psychological mirrors". Here "the gaze of an animal" holds still while the leaves move. The work is from 2024.
In the artist’s words
“My paintings draw on nature, but I use it as a symbolic language for the human condition. Plants and animals stand in for human emotions, instincts and habits. A twisting vine, a resilient bloom or the gaze of an animal is a psychological mirror. I encourage viewers to look past the surface and see how closely we mirror nature.”
- Theme
- Human instinct in nature
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 76 × 60 × 2 cm
- Year
- 2024
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- Andhra university
- From
- Banglore
- Code
- RC-633
