Tag Archives: Saraswati

Saraswati shows up at the Cincinnati Art Museum

by Christopher Agostino www.agostinoarts.com

In Cincinnati for the National Storytelling Network Conference, I got a chance to go to the Cincinnati Art Museum. A special exhibit on musical instruments included a “Mayuri” from India, a stringed instrument fashioned in the shape of a peacock in reference to the goddess Saraswati — combining two of her iconic representations. Nice to see her again, so soon after painting her.

At the museum, a minor kerfuffle. I had particularly wanted to see the current exhibit “The Collections: 6,000 Years of Art“, displayed in an old-fashioned cabinet style, with lots of unlabeled stuff side by side in jammed glass cabinets. Towards the end I saw a piece of painted pottery from ancient Greece depicting Heracles Continue reading →

Saraswati — Body Painting at FABAIC 2012 with Kryolan Aquacolors

"Saraswati, Goddess of Knowledge" — painted on May 24 at FABAIC 2012

by Christoper Agostino    www.agostinoarts.com

For my first demonstration painting at the Kryolan booth at the Face and Body Art International Convention this year, I chose a design to fit the convention’s Bollywood theme. Saraswati is a goddess of knowledge, a very ancient figure of Indian mythology, named after a river. This body design is derived from a more complex one I have yet to paint, which includes some of the intricate linework of the face and body art for the Theyyam Festival in the Kerala region of India. That complexity is only alluded to here in simplified form in the face design. This body painting is done with Kryolan’s Aquacolors, including Interferenze Copper and Bronze. Continue reading →