Varunika Saraf

‘Portents’ are eight paintings which are a part of Saraf’s larger body of work engaging with astronomical signs predicting the future, considered as harbingers of hope or omens of doom. Iconographic images giving apocalyptic glimpses of contemporary times, are surrounded by a vibrant celestial sky speckled with hues of gold, copper and silver. Saraf has pasted several sheets of Lokta paper, handmade artisan paper indigenous to Nepal, on unprimed cotton, and layered them with different watercolours created by grinding natural and synthetic pigments. Interestingly, the traditional use of Lokta paper was for official government records and sacred texts.