Linga Schrijn in de grotten van Elefanta c. 1895 - 1915

This photograph of the Linga Shrine in the Elefanta caves, was captured by Clifton & Co. I can imagine the photographer, setting up their equipment in the dimly lit cave, adjusting the focus, framing the shot just so. In this monochromatic world, the textures of the stone become paramount. Look at the rough surfaces, the chisel marks still visible on the statues. I wonder what it was like to carve these figures out of solid rock? Did the artists work intuitively, feeling their way through the stone, or did they have a precise vision in mind from the start? Each gesture, each curve, communicates a feeling, an intention, a story. We, as artists, are always in conversation with those who came before us, riffing on their ideas, pushing boundaries. Painting is an embodied expression, a way of grappling with the world through touch, through material, through the sheer physicality of the medium. It embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.