76.2cm X 137.16cm, m oil paint on Masonite board
There is so much going on in this painting, birds flying and diving, swimming, drowning. Birds eating fish, fish eating birds!
This painting is about the chaos in life. Chaos that only centres on the need to survive. If you look carefully you can see that it is not clear who is trying to catch who for a meal. This is an aquatic version of dog eat dog!
When you study this painting very carefully you can see that some of the fish are actually attacking the birds, while some birds try to eat the fish. But it takes time to separate everything that you see in your mind. When looking at this painting with your viewer’s eye you have to make a circular movement, but in reality the movement in the painting is frozen in time
I had lots of fun looking in photographs to identify Indian fishing birds that I could include in this artwork. Then I had more fun painting them to make wave like movements. The waves and the wings of these birds have the same curves. The shapes of the fish also have a similar movement
All three elements, fish, birds and water were painted in a half circle direction to express the feeling of movement.
The texture of the entire painting is very flat, like a mirror. All visual texture was expressed through the thin application of paint and contrasting colour brushstrokes. There are no flat plains of colour (i.e. colour blocks). Every surface is multi-shaded, just like reflections on water. The painting is located in Moira, Goa, India.
My mother, who is a tapestry weaver, really liked this painting. She made a beautiful tapestry based on it that is just the same size as the original. It is included here.