CRYPTIC
'The Family Sofa'
2015
Oil on Canvas
2.5' x 3'
About the Series
'In these works, the mobile background of the paintings is juxtaposed against the still female figure, who as a caregiver, epitomizes the best of societal values. However, in an attempt to perfect each of the roles and functions of a caregiver or otherwise, the woman, much like a sofa, has turned into an object of utility rather than of value. In the act of extending herself above and beyond her means, the perfection achieved, if at all, excludes the very person trying to achieve it, resulting in her being devalued by others as well as herself. The paintings, then, depict the irony of perfecting each role in and compromising oneself for it, consequently creating a self-imposed prison of expectations.'
'Some of the patterns that find their way into her paintings go back to her childhood memories of motifs on her mother’s sarees. Saigal has also developed her own imagery. There is a recurrent fused motif of lotus and swan, representing goddess Lakshmi. Sometimes the truck itself form the leitmotif in her compositions, lending a unique hieroglyphical element to her paintings, like in “The Family Sofa” and “Cryptic”.'