Fascination for technology coupled with a passion for mythology

Baiju Parthan’s fascination for technology, blended with his passion for mythology is palpable in his practice. The artist views them as symbiotic, as he thinks both mythology and technology feed off each other. He is in constant search of metaphors that can seamlessly be translated into artistic symbols.

His overriding concern as an artist is to minutely and assiduously reflect the changes that occur around him. While studying mythology, he could study different systems and locate motifs like the hero myth and creation. Also being, a hardcore science fiction junkie, Baiju Parthan could see the whole thing from a different perspective, starting to find parallels in these worlds. In fact, he enjoys the whole aspect of technology since it dramatically shifts perceptions, and allows us to extend our own selves in novel ways into the immediate environ.

Coming from a Marxian background with well defined ideological thoughts to conform to social norms, he happened to meet a group of thinkers, to realize for the first time that he had a choice. This confrontation completely changed him, as he was exposed to a not-so-mainstream, mind-bending literature that loosened up his ideas of the world around. He was also interested in sculpture, mythology and anthropological studies, all enhancing his artistic growth. In the process, the restless artist created his own reality.

While learning Western art history, as part of the curriculum, he was disillusioned that one had to have of British or Western origin to be counted as an artist of substance. Hence he started becoming realist, and the journey ahead for him was all about exploration.

While painting gives him the space to be introspective, new-media allows him to be more proactive. He explains: “I think communication technology is something that is really transforming our social reality and cultural space simply because it deals with communication and human communication and language is the site wherein social reality and cultural identity is constructed.”