A student of Chennai artists, R.B. Bhaskaran and Alphonso Doss, Asma Menon's art is easy to mistake as simple illustration or playful, faux naive painting. In fact her work is the culmination of years of research into the world of mythology, religion and mystical storytelling. Her art is animated, colourful and magical though also deeply meaningful and sympathetic to those elements of pictorial story telling that we as humans have enjoyed for all eternity. With the gift of a gypsy tea-leaf reader, Menon moves freely between fables, myths, personal stories and allegories in her paintings, constantly connecting, mixing and overlapping her brew on the canvas.It is clearly the idea of pictures telling us truths about our own world that spurs Menon's work; the balance between what we understand through recognisable cultural symbols and what we understand through narrative explanation or self-explication. The role and image of women, particularly the multicultural and trans-deistic concept of Earth Mother, take an especially important position in her paintings. Within her highly patterned, some would say un-prettified, paintings stand other images of women: Lakshmi the Hindu Goddess, a mermaid, a wanton woman of the night, a Rapunzel-type princess, and a dancer from 'Swan Lake'. They live in Menon's vibrant, hyper-realistic Narnia-like landscape complete with castles, tombstones, archways, abundant flora and trees, birds and animals, dancing children and mythical dragons. When Menon describes the content of one of her beautiful and complex canvases, it sounds similar to how she describes her own life.
With her normal flamboyant palette, Menon has created three still-life paintings of similar size and composition, all with their own individuality though even stronger seen together as a set. They occurred, she explains, during a time of great change. She states: 'the flowers are offerings. At every stage of life all across borders, flowers speak of many emotions and events. This new stage of life for me has resulted in an enormous urge to express myself through the vivid colours of the seasonal changes around me. Like the Empress [a common character in her work], I continue with love, strength and creativity, my mind intrepid as to the many adventures in store for me. I embrace all this. with the fragrance and beauty of life in full bloom.'
