Mumbai-based artist Yashasvi Mathis' unconventional take on the world

Mumbai-based Yashasvi Mathis is a self-taught artist whose unconventional characterisation of her subjects made an impact on us. “A very spiritual upbringing along with generous amounts of reinforcement on how nothing lasts forever made me realise that making art is the closest thing I had to create my own worlds immersed in clarity and delight,” says the artist. She first trained in knitwear design and subsequently studied fashion, Yashasvi flits between simple sketches, painting and digital media. “I find that I get easily tired of a medium that I am using soon after the project where I use only that medium, is done,” she says.

Across her work there is a tension in the slightly contorted figures she depicts, the colourful work sits somewhere between reality and fiction. “I like to create fantasy-based art that explores semi-mystical ideas figuratively. Most times the subject in the artwork is an androgynous woman being pensive,” says the artist. “I paint very personal themes driven by existential queries and my thoughts on stifling social and religious boundaries.”

Yashasvi is currently working on an album art project with beat-poet and drummer Jivraj Singh of Skinny Alley and Pinknoise. “I am also working on a few paintings for an exhibition coming up in October,” says the artist. “I really want to study printmaking academically in the near future.”