Shahree Vyaas's Blog, page 17

The Conclave. Mixed techniques on a black canvas 78 x 52 cm by Shaharee Vyaas (2023)

The Conclave is the second installation of a series of five #paintings I’ve made around a time that coincides with the yearly festival of #Halloween 2023. The frames contain some earlier reflections I had about the aftermath of the recent #pandemic. The stylistic style deviates substantially from most of my other works, although parallels can be drawn with the works that feature in my series Art in the Dark.

According to anecdotal reports, the pandemic may have negatively impacted #behavior by contributing to a rise in incivility and #rudeness, which may well have occurred due to chronic #exposure to stress and an #anxiety-inducing news cycle.

Healthcare professionals have also reported experiencing #incivility. According to one analysis using data retrieved from an online survey, 45.7% of nurses polled reported witnessing more rudeness than before the pandemic.

Reduced time spent around others may have also contributed to this state of affairs. The study suggested that “though #small-talk opportunities decreased due to #COVID-19, the need for concise and clear communication increased”.

Perhaps we will now place higher priority on in-person interactions and our relationships with others, being outdoors for sports and activities, and feeling relieved of constant worry. Acknowledging what we went through and growing and learning from that experience would be the best outcome.

Danse Macabre. Acrylic on a black canvas 78 x 52 cm by Shaharee Vyaas (2023)

Danse Macabre is the first installation of a series of five #paintings I’ve made around a time that coincides with the yearly festival of #Halloween 2023. The frames contain some earlier reflections I had about the aftermath of the recent #pandemic. The stylistic concept deviates substantially from most of my other works, although parallels can be drawn with the works that feature in my series Art in the Dark.
#Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre, Op. 40, is based on the French legend that Death packs a fiddle and comes to play at midnight on Halloween, causing the skeletons in the cemetery to crawl out of the ground for their annual graveyard dance party. Danse macabre, as a theme, was meant to represent how death was the great social equalizer — no one escapes the dance with death — and there were a number of paintings and pieces of art inspired by this philosophy. When Saint-Saëns initially wrote his Danse macabre in 1872, it was actually an art song. Poet Henri Cazalis wrote lines like, “The bones of the dancers are heard to crack,” but two years later Saint-Saëns replaced the voice with the violin and the dissonance amped up its tension.

#COVID-19, with all the variants of the virus that causes it, has unquestionably affected people across the globe. The disease itself or the stress, uncertainty, and fear it has created touched most people in one way or another.
The cultural impact of mass outbreaks of disease are not fleeting or temporary. The effect can endure past the initial stages of outbreak, in its deep etching upon the culture and society. This can be seen in the medieval artworks and motifs of Danse Macabre that followed the outbreak of the plague, when people attempted to cope with the #death surrounding them.
Nothing is completely irreversible. We’re going to be okay — everyone is able to be well and to do well — but we need to give ourselves space and time to get there. It will take time to reacquaint with a new reality. What we saw during the pandemic was a need to return to the way things were, ‘back to normal,’ but we don’t need to go back. Human #evolution prompts us to move forward, not backward.

Danse Macabre. Mixed techniques on a black canvas 78 x 52 cm by Shaharee Vyaas (2023)

Danse Macabre is the first installation of a series of five #paintings I’ve made around a time that coincides with the yearly festival of #Halloween 2023. The frames contain some earlier reflections I had about the aftermath of the recent #pandemic. The stylistic style deviates substantially from most of my other works, although parallels can be drawn with the works that feature in my series Art in the Dark.
#COVID-19, with all the variants of the virus that causes it, has unquestionably affected people across the globe. The disease itself or the stress, uncertainty, and fear it has created touched most people in one way or another.
The cultural impact of mass outbreaks of disease are not fleeting or temporary. The effect can endure past the initial stages of outbreak, in its deep etching upon the culture and society. This can be seen in the medieval artworks and motifs of Danse Macabre that followed the outbreak of the plague, when people attempted to cope with the #death surrounding them.
Nothing is completely irreversible. We’re going to be okay — everyone is able to be well and to do well — but we need to give ourselves space and time to get there. It will take time to reacquaint with a new reality. What we saw during the pandemic was a need to return to the way things were, ‘back to normal,’ but we don’t need to go back. Human #evolution prompts us to move forward, not backward.

A Society in Transit. Expanded catalog, 166 p., isbn 9798865037835, by Shaharee Vyaas ( Kindle version $ 4,99)

Click on this image to be directed to the amazon page.

Arundhati Roy //The system will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling…their ideas, their version of history, their wars…their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We may be many, and they be few… Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.
The traditional #systems that govern civilization are currently in transit. The digital #revolution has transformed the way we live, work, and interact with each other. It has facilitated #communication and democratized access to information, accelerating the pace of change in society. This has also impacted the way we think, learn, and consume media. The evolution of technology has allowed us to be more mobile and connected, resulting in a more globalized and #interconnected world. As a passenger on Earth, we should be mindful of the impact this rapidly changing #digital landscape has on the natural world and the delicate balance of our planet’s #ecosystems.
This edition of my work reflects some of the new angles I’ve introduced in my #artistic practice, with a tendency to pay closer attention towards more concrete issues that plague our #society combined with some reflections upon the relation between humanity, our planet, and its place into the universe.
While I still consider myself as a multidisciplinary artist, I must admit that recently I’ve spent more time at the creation of visual art and installations than on any other subject.
I have grossly neglected the literary facet of this project and as such must admit that the whole enterprise is still a becoming endeavor.
By consequence I have been weeding through the works I’ve presented into my first #catalog “The Complexity of Simplicity”, while keeping the elements that are substantial for my developing #vision.

The heterodimensional Aspects of Civilization 2/5. Acrylic on canvas 40.6 x 40.6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

This painting is the second installation of a series of five paintings that are a meditation upon the way how the human evolution process mirrors the cosmological cycles. They form a continuation of the space opera called A Cosmology of Civilization that connected the different phases of a civilization to a planet in our solar system.

The heterodimensional Aspects of Civilization 2/5. Mixed techniques on canvas 40.6 x 40.6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

This painting is the second installation of a series of five paintings that are a meditation upon the way how the human evolution process mirrors the cosmological cycles. They form a continuation of the space opera called A Cosmology of Civilization that connected the different phases of a civilization to a planet in our solar system.

The heterodimensional Aspects of Civilization 1/5. Acrylic on canvas 40,6 x 40,6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

This painting is the first installation of a series of five paintings that are a meditation upon the way how the human evolution process mirrors the cosmological cycles. They form a continuation of the space opera called A Cosmology of Civilization that connected the different phases of a civilization to a planet in our solar system.
These five surreal paintings explore the cyclical nature of human civilization within the context of a four-dimensional vector field model of our solar system. From the birth of civilizations to their eventual decline and the emergence of new ones, these works strive to capture the intricacies of our existence and our seemingly inescapable place within the grander cosmic order. By depicting this heterodimensional aspect, these images highlight the interconnectivity between humans and the universe.
Each piece showcases a different angle upon this complex interplay, utilizing dreamlike imagery to convey the fascinating trajectory of our civilization. The vibrant colors and abstract shapes convey a sense of movement and progression, while also hinting at the cyclical nature of existence. The paintings are a surreal depiction of an abstract concept in a distinctive artistic style.
The surrealist style creates vivid, abstract scenes that evoke a sense of mysticism and a feeling of transience within the viewer. Through these dreamlike images, the paintings invite the viewer to contemplate the ebb and flow of human history and the mysteries of time and space that govern our existence.

The heterodimensional Aspects of Civilization 1/5. Mixed techniques on canvas 40,6 x 40,6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

This painting is the first installation of a series of five paintings that are a meditation upon the way how the human evolution process mirrors the cosmological cycles. They form a continuation of the space opera called A Cosmology of Civilization that connected the different phases of a specific civilization to a planet in our solar system.
These five surreal paintings explore the cyclical nature of human civilization within the context of a four-dimensional vector field model of our solar system. From the birth of civilizations to their eventual decline and the emergence of new ones, these works strive to capture the intricacies of our existence and our seemingly inescapable place within the grander cosmic order. By depicting this heterodimensional aspect, these images highlight the interconnectivity between humans and the universe.
Each piece showcases a different angle upon this complex interplay, utilizing dreamlike imagery to convey the fascinating trajectory of our civilization. The vibrant colors and abstract shapes convey a sense of movement and progression, while also hinting at the cyclical nature of existence. The paintings are a surreal depiction of an abstract concept in a distinctive artistic style.
The surrealist style creates vivid, abstract scenes that evoke a sense of mysticism and a feeling of transience within the viewer. Through these dreamlike images, the paintings invite the viewer to contemplate the ebb and flow of human history and the mysteries of time and space that govern our existence.

Imperfection is a Form of Freedom. Acrylic on canvas 40.6 x 40.6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

“I’m fighting myself. I know I am. One minute I want to remember. The next minute I want to live in the land of forgetting. One minute I want to feel. The next minute I never want to feel ever again. – Benjamin Alire Saenz, Last Night I Sang to the Monster.”

This painting is part of the series “The Self”, in which I explore the complex and diverse facets of selfhood, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age, challenging traditional Western and Eastern views. I investigate how selfhood is constructed, altered, and reimagined, often offering fresh perspectives. Through my artworks, I embrace the multiplicity of selfhood and its intersections with social and cultural identities. By breaking down dichotomous views of the self, I invite viewers to question and expand their own understanding of selfhood.

Imperfection is a Form of Freedom. Mixed techniques on canvas 40.6 x 40.6 cm by Shaharee Vyaas.

“I’m fighting myself. I know I am. One minute I want to remember. The next minute I want to live in the land of forgetting. One minute I want to feel. The next minute I never want to feel ever again. – Benjamin Alire Saenz, Last Night I Sang to the Monster.”

This painting is part of the series “The Self”, in which I explore the complex and diverse facets of selfhood, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age, challenging traditional Western and Eastern views. I investigate how selfhood is constructed, altered, and reimagined, often offering fresh perspectives. Through my artworks, I embrace the multiplicity of selfhood and its intersections with social and cultural identities. By breaking down dichotomous views of the self, I invite viewers to question and expand their own understanding of selfhood.