“fantasy is a place where it rains”
~Calvino quoting Dante
The Ragini paintings are named for an ancient tradition of Indian miniature painting which celebrated the arrival of the monsoon and the rebirth of the landscape after months of drought. They also reflected the complex rhythmic qualities of traditional ragas. This confluence of water and music is a wonderful point of departure into an imagined world.
These paintings depict a dematerialized landscape which suggests the fragile unity of the world. As Calvino said when describing the poetry of Lucretius, “Knowledge of the world tends to dissolve the solidity of the world, leading to a perception of all that is infinitely minute, light, and mobile.