Bandana Kumari acquired her degree in painting from The College of Arts and Crafts, Patna University. She received The Mahua Art Gallery & HK Kejriwal foundation award, the Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation award and the Lalit Kala Academy Lucknow award to jump start her art journey.
Taking a cue from Bihar’s popular Madhubani folk art, decided to make the eagle a metaphor for a powerful woman, because she aspired to see a woman on the highest level of the societal hierarchy. She imbues the body with the motifs of flowers, moon and butterflies to express the gentleness and compassion within her. Male characters painted with the lion/animal head are depicted with rain, animals, and clouds that represent the masculinity, love and compassion of a male.
Her subjects include birds, animals, flowers and natural subjects. In her painting, she presents women as the strongest creature of God, depicted as a bird or aboard a lion or elephant, with an imagined masculine aura. Her paintings are her own ode to feminism, but with a bright almost glaring colour palette. Her humour filled titles, and a hint of satire with the juxtaposing of animal heads on human bodies – add playfulness to her creations.
Bandana says “My artworks mostly have forms that have the body of a human and the head of an animal. In our society, where on one hand, people pray to the power of goddesses, on the other, they consider a lady to be weak and helpless. But these people fail to understand that when the time comes, the lady can show the power and determination of the otherwise worshiped goddess. And hence, most of my artworks have the face of a lioness which depicts a powerful woman. The lady can show the prowess of that of a goddess.”
