Unique art show in Chennai to delve into history of Indian spices

Her love for cooking drew civil-engineer-turned-artist Radhika Rani to look at her kitchen as a laboratory. All the measurements of spices, with each thrown into a dish in right proportions to create a perfect mix intrigued her about how different permutations and combinations of spices could yield very varied flavours and textures to a dish. “As I began to ponder over these thoughts, I decided to make spices a part of my art and explore their history, the culture, the faith and the legend behind them. This thought led me to my art series, Masala Tales, which delves into the history of a total of 15 Indian spices, including chilli, cardamom, pepper, cloves, cumin, mustard and saffron,” recalls 47-year-old Radhika.

The series of 15 abstract paintings, with each exploring the story of one of the spices, took the artist over two years of researching and a year of creating the artworks. “I had to refer to a lot of historic texts, literature and mythological writings to understand each spice. As I began reading, I understood the connections of spices with our culture and history. The world history has had a lot to do with spices, as even explorer Christopher Columbus, who was the first to set foot in Americas, wanted to benefit from spice trade through sea passages. Each of the paintings attempts to explore the key elements of a particular spice’s history and how it began to be used in food,” she elaborates.

For instance, her artwork on garlic takes one back to the mythological story of Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean). “Mythology points out that it was during the churning of the ocean when a pot of amrit (nectar) came out of the ocean. It is said in the ancient scriptures that while the asuras (power-seeking deities) and gods were drinking the nectar, a drop of it fell on to the earth, which turned into garlic,” the artist remarks. Such tales behind every spice will be narrated through Radhika’s impasto style of painting, a form which was also adopted by renowned Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, wherein the paint strokes are clearly visible.

Having worked as a civil engineer for several years, Radhika, who hails from Kollam in Kerala, decided to pursue her passion for art over the past 10 years. Her past exhibitions have been held in various south Indian cities. “I have also been spending time writing poetry around my artworks. So, each of the paintings in the Masala Tales series will be accompanied by a piece of poetry written by me about the spice,” she adds.

Radhika, who also developed an interest in macro photography of insects over the past few years, says she also tries to highlight the need for practising organic farming through her art. “Since the time I began to observe the insects closer, I learnt that the bees that are necessary for pollination of crops cannot do so if too many pesticides are used. Especially with flowers like cardamom flower, which only has one petal, pollination becomes extremely difficult if too many chemicals are used. I’m also trying to create awareness about the environmental side of the spice crops through the paintings,” she remarks.