A highly sought-after artist of The Noble Sage, K. Benitha Perciyal is a young, talented mixed media painter whose skill and imagination is at once striking and impressive. Her earlier work was a notably dark experience for the viewer. They were psychological, often autobiographical portraits that exposed her deepest fears and anxieties. Today her explorations of her self, her psyche, are articulated by the artist in a subtly different tone. Her work is altogether much softer, meaning less to grab the audience by the arm than lead them gently by the shoulder. Perciyals art has reacted to her success by becoming more positive and life-affirming. She uses the materiality of her natural mediums to bring a sensation of warmth and familiarity for the viewer. Colours and textures exude a new welcoming aspect in their choice and execution that no doubt reflects the mental wellbeing of the young artist. A good example is her new 2008 Jerry series of works. Jerry is her pet squirrel that she befriended in the Lalit Kala Akademi studio a few years back. Today she looks after this creature like a mother, with kindness and love. It has awakened in her feelings she wasnt aware she had in abundance as well as given her a new understanding of those little sweet things of life that are so easily overlooked. The process of her art is as arduous as ever however. Her interest now being to work as much as possible with naturally-born media (the colour created from soil, cardamom, saffron, ground leaves etc.) on naturally-made materials such as handmade paper or other surfaces and fabrics she has collected on her numerous trips abroad and throughout India.
