The Open Studio / Pooja
Pooja
Discourage
Every hand that holds them back also holds them up
Five bodies lean into the same grey weather.
A hand closes on a shoulder. Another hand holds a wrist.
The skin is the colour of bruise and slate.
Below the knees, rust climbs like a slow fire.
One arm still reaches up past all the others.
Behind them the mist breaks into small pale rings.
The work
Five bare figures press forward across a long canvas. Each one holds or pulls at the next. Pooja stretches their limbs and shrinks their heads. Their skin is grey, blue and mauve. Small scars and marks cover it. Red and orange rise through the legs like heat. Behind them the background is built up in layers of texture and marks until it opens into pale light. The work is mixed media on canvas and measures 152 × 60 cm. Pooja is based in Delhi.
In the artist’s words
“This work reflects the psychological and social condition of discouragement, where individuals are constantly pulled back by external pressures, emotional burdens and societal expectations. The scars and marks on the bodies represent emotional wounds and lived experiences. The warm tones suggest an inner energy that survives beneath vulnerability. The textured background acts as a space of hope.”
- Theme
- Discouragement and inner strength
- Material
- Mixed media on canvas
- Size
- 152 × 60 cm
- Year
- 2026
- Edition
- 1 of 1
- Framed
- Yes
- About the artist
- Banaras
- From
- Delhi
- Code
- RC-366
