OM SWAMI
Om Swami is a Mumbai-based entirely self-taught contemporary Indian artist, who has become widely recognized for his vibrant and joyful paintings of divinities—Ganesha, Shiva, Buddha and Krishna with Radha—as well as his paintings of couples basking in moments of togetherness and bliss. Across his various series, his surreal scenes often feature flutes, flowers, butterflies and a glowing moon.
The beauty of his work is in the fluidity & movement of his subjects. Even in his figurative works where no movement is depicted, one takes one look at the subject & can feel the energy within the painting. the paintings of Om Swami propounds on certain human traits like sensuality and love using bold and thick strokes. The 'She' highlighted in his paintings, to an extent is a comprehensive revision of certain traditional aspects, the archaic women, which has been in the human imagination for a long period of time.
“As a child, I grew up in an area where there were lots of workshops in which clay idols of Ganesha were made. Watching the potters for hours was something I loved doing and each time, I would head home after this to try and create the idols myself. This is how my fascination with Ganpatis started and continues on to this day,” he says of his most frequent subject, Lord Ganesha.
As both an artist and a person, Om Swami is defined by his deep and unwavering faith not only in the divine but in humanity.