Transcribed
Ep 18: Olivia Fraser: Finding the sacred in meditative art
Jan 2, 2024 ·
59m 2s
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Ep 18: Olivia Fraser: Finding the sacred in meditative art
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Description
Artist https://www.instagram.com/oliviafraserart/ crash-landed in India in 1989, still in her 20s, following her then boyfriend and now husband, the celebrated author William Dalrymple, losing her luggage on her maiden trip...
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Artist Olivia Fraser crash-landed in India in 1989, still in her 20s, following her then boyfriend and now husband, the celebrated author William Dalrymple, losing her luggage on her maiden trip with only her kinsman James Bailey Fraser’s Company School artworks for company. She began by painting scenes on the streets of the Capital, till she found her calling in Rajasthani miniatures, which she made all her own.
As an artist, you’re a little bit like a chemist, remarks Olivia, as she describes moving Harry Potter-like through Jaipur’s alleys scouring for pigments and gemstones in their rawest form — grinding malachite, her ‘top favourite” indigo, gold leaf which “she loves”, and agate which gives a burnished quality to her work. Through her decades in India, she has dug deep into the Puranas and the yoga tradition, in particular the Gheranda Samhita, infusing her work with a meditative quality.
She lets us in on the inner workings of her artistic mind, which sometimes starts whirring as she sits on her thinking chairs, one each in her London and Delhi homes. She compares her dual existence to “stepping into a wardrobe” to enter another world, like “Lucy” in the Narnia books. She also talks about the influence of her great-aunt Eileen Agar, a Surrealist who moved in the same circles as greats such as Dali and Picasso.
* Click here for Oliva Fraser’s website
* Check out her exhibiton The Journey Within at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York
* To view Olivia’s works at the Grosvenor Gallery, click here
Follow and share to grow the conversation!
Chapters:
00:33 What an artist’s day looks like; her “thinking chair”
05:06 Preparing the handmade paper
05:52 Sourcing materials from Jaipur
08:52 On her love for gold leaf used in a sacred context in a miniature painting
10:40 keeping busy in India and London
11:54 On her “thinking chair”
12:58 The artist as a chemist; how light affects the artwork
14:25 Crash-landing in India aged 20 in 1989; her forbear James Bailey Fraser’s Company School collection
19:28 Capturing scenes from the streets of Delhi in her initial paintings
20:25 Deciding to learn traditional miniature painting; an exciting apprenticeship
23:20 Finding a Pichwai painters’ studio in Delhi; discovering sacred art
26:26 “Western gaze” vs “internal perception”; looking inwards to paint a banana tree
31:14 Diving into the yogic tradition, discovering its visual side
36:22 Reading an excerpt from the Gheranda Samhita, 18th century Sanskrit manual of yoga
38:10 Painting the lotus, which opens and contracts with the breath
39:00 Becoming a beekeeper to explore the idea of Bhramari & the bee in traditional imagery
43:44 Finding the vocabulary of yoga in her art
45:00 Living in India & UK, a comfort with Indian clothes
47:15 Indian artists she follows
48:15 Influence of her great-aunt Eileen Agar, a Surrealist who knew Dali & Picasso
55:43 Attracted to artists who travelled the world
58:00 Current projects
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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As an artist, you’re a little bit like a chemist, remarks Olivia, as she describes moving Harry Potter-like through Jaipur’s alleys scouring for pigments and gemstones in their rawest form — grinding malachite, her ‘top favourite” indigo, gold leaf which “she loves”, and agate which gives a burnished quality to her work. Through her decades in India, she has dug deep into the Puranas and the yoga tradition, in particular the Gheranda Samhita, infusing her work with a meditative quality.
She lets us in on the inner workings of her artistic mind, which sometimes starts whirring as she sits on her thinking chairs, one each in her London and Delhi homes. She compares her dual existence to “stepping into a wardrobe” to enter another world, like “Lucy” in the Narnia books. She also talks about the influence of her great-aunt Eileen Agar, a Surrealist who moved in the same circles as greats such as Dali and Picasso.
* Click here for Oliva Fraser’s website
* Check out her exhibiton The Journey Within at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York
* To view Olivia’s works at the Grosvenor Gallery, click here
Follow and share to grow the conversation!
Chapters:
00:33 What an artist’s day looks like; her “thinking chair”
05:06 Preparing the handmade paper
05:52 Sourcing materials from Jaipur
08:52 On her love for gold leaf used in a sacred context in a miniature painting
10:40 keeping busy in India and London
11:54 On her “thinking chair”
12:58 The artist as a chemist; how light affects the artwork
14:25 Crash-landing in India aged 20 in 1989; her forbear James Bailey Fraser’s Company School collection
19:28 Capturing scenes from the streets of Delhi in her initial paintings
20:25 Deciding to learn traditional miniature painting; an exciting apprenticeship
23:20 Finding a Pichwai painters’ studio in Delhi; discovering sacred art
26:26 “Western gaze” vs “internal perception”; looking inwards to paint a banana tree
31:14 Diving into the yogic tradition, discovering its visual side
36:22 Reading an excerpt from the Gheranda Samhita, 18th century Sanskrit manual of yoga
38:10 Painting the lotus, which opens and contracts with the breath
39:00 Becoming a beekeeper to explore the idea of Bhramari & the bee in traditional imagery
43:44 Finding the vocabulary of yoga in her art
45:00 Living in India & UK, a comfort with Indian clothes
47:15 Indian artists she follows
48:15 Influence of her great-aunt Eileen Agar, a Surrealist who knew Dali & Picasso
55:43 Attracted to artists who travelled the world
58:00 Current projects
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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| Author | Anuradha Varma |
| Organization | anuradha varma |
| Website | - |
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