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DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
Final Portfolio Collection
PATALA On multiverses and multiplicities A Supernatural Naturalist Catalogue November 2020
Pattern, Art, Design and Architecture
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NOVEMBER 2020
Balachander Prashanthi Final Portfolio Collection DV2011 PAGE 1
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DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
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CONTENT CHIEF EDITOR Prashanthi Balachander DESIGNER Prashanthi Balachander
A SUPERNATURAL NATURALIST CATALOGUE First published in 2020 by: Supernaturalist Publishings Conradi Road NTU School of Art, Design and Media Singapore 330004 Tel: +65 6300 9689 Fax: +65 6300 9867 Email: contact@supernaturalist.com Website: www.supernaturalist.com
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05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
CONCEPT
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Abstract Introduction Research Moodboard, References
03 04 05 06
OUTPUT
Motif development Final motifs Banner development Final banner design Media Nexus Wall Work display Swatch collection Applications
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Š NOVEMBER 2020 by Supernaturalist Publishings Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher. NOVEMBER 2020
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ABSTRACT In Hindu cosmology, the universe is divided into the three worlds/mulitverses: Svarga (heaven), Prithvi/Martya (earth/mortal plane) and Patala (the underworld). The work illustrates the seven regions of Patala (namely Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rastala, and Nagaloka), supported by Sheshanaga, the primordial serpent of creation that holds all the realms of the universe.
Svarga: heaven
Martya: mortal plane
Universe
Patala: the underworld
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Introduction: Mindmap
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
02 INTRODUCTION: KEYWORD MINDMAP (PARTIAL) Only 5-10% of the ocean has been explored
Could the ocean lead back into space? Wormholes from sea -> space -> sea?
Ocean, Space
Praying mantis decapitating partner after mating
The unknown in nature
Things that are kind of metal honestly
SUPERNATURAL NATURALIST
Giving birth
Aerial landscapes; glacial impact
Ram Setu bridge
Kolams: pattern that sustains earth; gives back
Commonalities; permutations and combinations across nature
Idea of pre-disposed routes/maps Repeated processes Anthills Cell division
Mandalas
Shesha Naga; Lokas
Ten Avatars
Repeated patterns
Fantastical landscapes/magical places
SUPERNATURAL
Hinduism
Religion
Magic
Myths
Paranormal
Occult
THEORIES
QUALITIES
MANIFESTS IN
Scary/Fear of the unknown
Invisible
Mythical cities
Invisible phenomena
Atlantis
Illusions
Creationism (Nature/earth/universe originated with supernatural; acts of divine creation How did humans come about?
Voodoo Tarot
Witchcraft
Ghosts
Cults
Clowns Puppets
Death Given a positive spin in Day of the Dead PAGE 4
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Optical illusions; make the audience spot something? Where’s Waldo style?
Feelings; love, pain, anger etc
Pandora’s Box
Adam and Eve
Research
Final Portfolio Collection
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
03 RESEARCH: MULTIVERSES/MULTIPLICITY In Hindu cosmology, the universe is composed of fourteen lokas, or worlds, that make up a multiverse. The lokas are divided into the seven upper worlds, known as vyarthis, and the seven lower worlds, known as patalas. The seven vyarthis 1. Satya-loka – place of Brahma, where souls are released from the cycle of rebirth 2. Tapa-loka – Ayohnija devadasis live here 3. Jana-loka – home to the sons of the god Brahma 4. Mahar-loka – enlightened beings such as Markandeya live here 5. Svar-loka – heaven and paradise, where all the 330 million Hindu gods live 6. Bhuvar-loka (or Pitri-loka) – where semi-divine beings live 7. Bhur-loka – Earth The seven patalas 1. Atala-loka – ruled by Bala, son of Maya, a famed demon architect 2. Vitala-loka – ruled by the god Hara-Bhava with attendant ganas 3. Sutala-loka – kingdom of the demon king Bali 4. Talatala-loka – realm of Maya 5. Mahatala-loka – home to the Nagas (serpents) 6. Rasatala-loka – home of the Asuras (demons) 7. Patala-loka (or Naga-loka) – region of the Nagas containing all jewels References 1. Dimmitt, Cornelia (2012). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Temple University Press. 2. Māṇi, Veṭṭaṃ (1998). Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0597-2. 3. Parmeshwaranand (2001). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas. Sarup & Sons. 4. The idea of many worlds - Hindu beliefs - BBC Bitesize. (2020). Retrieved 15 August 2020, from https://www.bbc.co.uk.bitesize/guides/zmvhsrd/revision/7
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Moodboard and references
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04 MOODBOARD AND REFERENCES STYLE INFLUENCE 1: MUGHAL PAINTINGS I looked to Mughal miniature paintings to inform my aesthetic, particularly the way faces and heads were illustrated.
Image credits: 1. Dashavatara - Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Orissa Pattachitra Painting on Tussar Silk. From https://www.dollsofindia.com/product/folk-artpaintings/dashavatara-ten-incarnations-of-lordvishnu-orissa-pata-painting-on-tussar-silk-OH82. html 2. “The Spy Zambur Brings Mahiya to the City of Tawariq”, Folio from a Hamzanama (Book of Hamza) ca. 1570. Attributed to Kesav Das. From https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/ search/447743 3. ”Rama Receives Sugriva and Jambavat, the Monkey and Bear Kings”, Folio from a Ramayana ca. 1605. From https://www.metmuseum.org/art/ collection/search/45434 1 2
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4. Srinivas, P. (2020). From https://indiathedestiny. com/india-art-culture/art/mughal-paintings-styles/ 5. The Mughal Court Paintings. (2020). From https:// asiasociety.org/mughal-court-paintings
Moodboard and references
Final Portfolio Collection
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STYLE INFLUENCE 2: BENE ROHLMANN On style I enjoy the flat, illustrative style here – it could be useful for uniting the different lokas in as much as they have starkly different subject matter. I tried to to modernize the earlier Mughal style by uniting this artist style and the mughal style by using thicker lines and flat and bolder colors. On subject matter He sometimes illustrates religious imagery – it was useful to look at his treatment of faces when illustrating demons. Images taken from artist website at https://benerohlmann.com
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Motif Development
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05 MOTIF DEVELOPMENT
SKETCHES These are some of my initial sketches: I used tracing paper a lot to trace over the parts of the body or drawing that I did like in order to continue to be able to make small tweaks. I also drew some different versions of snakes, going with the one on the far right ultimately.
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Final motifs
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
06 FINAL MOTIFS
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01, 02, 03: Atala I illustrate the three types of women in Atala – svairiṇīs, kāmiṇīs, and the punshchalīs. They are described as beautiful women who enchant travellers who enter Atala. 04, 05: Vitala Vitala is ruled by the god Hara-Bhava, who dwells with attendant ganas. These dwarves mine gold and other jewels from the fertile soil. 06: Sutala Sutala constructed by Viswakarman, is the kingdom of the pious demon king Bali. I illustrate Bali here, with his own royal palanquin. 07, 08: Rasatala Rasatala, at the sole of the feet of the universe form of Vishnu, is the home of the demons – Danavas and Daityas, who are mighty but cruel.
07.
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09: Shesha Naga Shesha Naga is the primordial serpent of creation upon which the universe rests. Shesha is generally depicted as a massive form that floats in space, with five, seven or ten heads.
Final motifs
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
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10..
11..
12.
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FLORAL MOTIFS The motifs on this page serve as decorative elements to the final composition. Motifs 16, 17 and 18 in particular were important connecting motifs to link the multiverses together.
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Banner Development
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
07 BANNER DEVELOPMENT
01. My initial layout was to arrange the multiverses from top to bottom straight. 02. Ina and I discussed to be very static, so we came up with the idea to have the multiverses be contained within Shesha Naga, the primordial serpent of creation. I arranged the elements down a simple S-shaped body. 03. Ina advised me to make the body have some twirls and more movements and for the elements to be smaller. I experiment with different ways of the snake twirling the body here, eventually settling on the third layout because it seemed more balanced. 04. After deciding on the swirl of the snake, I start placing my elements in, working on refining them at the same time. 01. PAGE 12
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Banner Development
Final Portfolio Collection
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
COLOR VARIATIONS For my first test print, I had used a red background and received feedback that it was too similar to the elements inside. As a result, I tried experimenting with green and blue backgrounds to contrast the elements contained in the snake. Deciding that blue was the better color, I experimented with different colors, with my final banner ultimately combining different elements of different colorways, with the bright turquoise as an accent color. I also picked certain colors from my very first reference image of Patala (below), but increased the saturation to make the colors pop more.
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Final Banner design
08 FINAL BANNER DESIGN
Shesha Naga The primordial serpent of creation upon which the universe is contained.
FINAL TOUCH UPS Floral motifs were added at last to fill up the background, weaving in and out of the snake to create depth.
Atala Comprised of svairiṇīs, kāmiṇīs, and the punshchalīs. They are described as beautiful women who enchant travellers.
A slight paper-ish texture was added to create more visual interest. Dimensions: 3564 mm x 420 mm
Vitala Attendant ganas that mine gold and other jewels from the fertile soil.
‘
Sutala The kingdom of the pious demon king Bali with his own royal palanquin.
Rasatala Demons known as Danavas and Daityas reside here.
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Media Nexus Wall
Final Portfolio Collection
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
09 MEDIA NEXUS WALL DESCRIPTION (FROM TOP TO BOTTOM) The media nexus wall was challenging for me as I had to rearrange my swirl sideways. I started with a non textured background, as was in my banner. Ina advised me that I should add some texture or change the background to a darker color as white does not show up very well on the Media Nexus Wall.
Dimensions 3840 pixels by 480 pixels
I then tried both a darker colored background and a lighter one, eventually going with the lighter version as I felt like it competed with the elements less.
VERSION 1
VERSION 2
FINAL NOVEMBER 2020
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Work display
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10 WORK DISPLAY
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Swatch Collection
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11 SWATCH COLLECTION PROCESS When making the swatches, I tried to group them either by their nature (humans, demons, dwarves, florals, snake) or tried to assemble the different motifs together using the florals to link them. As a result, the swatches form their own miniature collections. I imagine their use in stationery, homeware, fabrics, cosmetics and more in the next section. 01: AN AMPLE ATALA
02: SWEET PARADISE
03: THE EDEN OF WOMEN
04: GANA DOMINATION
05: VIBRANT VITALA
Collections 01 / Swatches 1, 2 and 3: Atala 02 / Swatches 4, and 5: Vitala 03 / Swatches 6, 7 and 8: Shesha Naga 04 / Swatches 9 and 10: Sutala 05 / Swatches 12 and 13: All motifs 06 / Swatches 14 and 15: Rasatala 07 / Swatches 17, 18, 19 and 20: Florals
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Swatch Collection
DV2011 / Pattern, Art, Design, Architecture
Final Portfolio Collection
06: SHESHA, HEAD ON
07: PSYCHEDELIC BODY
08: A THOUSAND HEADS
09: RICH TAPESTRY
10: ROYAL, REGAL
11: A FRENZIED DANCING
12: PATALA, TOGETHER
13: PATALA: A REGULAR VISION
14: ATTACK OF THE DEMONS
15: DEMON DAZE
16: DANCE OF BALI
17: INDIAN LACE
18: FLORAL OPULENCE
19: WARM ADDICTION
20: THE BLOOM WITHIN
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12 APPLICATIONS
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ABOUT Hello, I’m Bala! I’m a Visual Communications student based in Singapore. I enjoy exploring and experimenting with different themes and mediums in my capacity as a designer and illustrator, and hope to make interesting work that inspires the viewer to want to do and find out more.