Choral Rain, 2020.
Oil, 24×36 in. Yufism.
Comes a musical rainstorm,
She notes windows tumbling down,
Waves to buildings and trees blown,
Twinkles feet with ornamental rain.
– Bolbul
Gustatory Ghazal, 2016
Oil, 28×40 in. Yufism
She has a recipe of unique olfaction,
Of sustenance and satisfaction…
Resonant so with the kitchen,
Painterly actions and reaction flow with abandon.
– Bolbul
Vine Tender, 2021
Oil. 12×16 in. Yufism
Bougainvillea bushes and red tipped boughs… get a chin up from the one who their hearts owns. Sculpted light lends an evening glow.
Freely, 2021
Oil. 18×24 in. Yufism
Headpushing winds, a mum
Models free self-definition…
Her mind, the figure, the saree wind
And the hopskipping child behind…
Refurbish the Indian wish
Of a leading, ancient kind.
– Bolbul
Comber Wind. 2018
Oil. 24×30 in
Visible wind ruffles her curls, passes through her windowed form, interacts with plants and light. Yufist solids a new idiom write.
Page Hunk. 2016
Oil. 20×24
Hammocked grace, if that’s the phrase,
Cast her reading face…
Upon a page… blond hunked,
Backed by sun ribbon, three chunked.
Nautical Nita, 2015
Oil, 14×18 in
A ruminative lake asks a boat ‘What did you like best
About her… chatter, laughter or the way she dressed?’
With a collective sigh, the entire scene replied
‘Nita was one of us, a nautical child…’
Incredibly, reflections formed a face of yore, child like.
– Bolbul
Margarita POV. 2015
Oil. 16×20 in
A couple so rich grow, they see skyscrapers below. A cool moon their heads brushes. A marriage takes place, of perspectives high and low.
Sea Splashy. 2015
Oil. 24×36 in
She sports moving, heaving waves
Around hips that undulate…
Which a smitten painter hoisting sail
Hopes to soon circumnavigate.
Hippily Free, 1993
Oil, 20×30 in
Fluttering slipstream as days flowed,
Muslin light, balletic tip to toe,
Her breezy limbs caught a poet’s nose…
Picking a canvas he wrote –
I am a sucker for hips of rose.
– Bolbul
Felinity, 2015
Oil, 26×32 in
My city’s soul is that of a cat,
Striped variously and moving fast.
Hackles raised it growls at play fouls
But when moonlight feeds milk,
Its purred affection… is to forever last.
– Bolbul
Light of Matter, 1995
Charcoal, 12×16 in
She is muse, her body luz…
In a flash does she reduce
Materiality to lambent ash,
So the artist catches the spirit.
– Bolbul
Edge of Air. 2016
Charcoal. 20×30 in
A nude model sets on edge studio air, similar to her rough chopped hair. Vulnerable inside, outwardly she combativeness dares.
Temple of Words, 2010
Charcoal, 10×12 in
Coarse tulips paint air,
Ten short feet behind her,
In the manner of Van Gogh’s heirs…
A lamp ceiling-slung,
Casts light undisturbed,
As if from heaven’s loftiest rung…
A girl’s heart lit
Like a candle wick,
Feels… the night offers its expanse
For a story’s romance!
– Bolbul
Kapipolitans. 2016
Charcoal and Pastel. 22×30 in
Iconic Bangalore corner of Brigade Road with couples. Coffee aroma pervades and shapes perception.
Reading Ecology. 2019
Pastel. 22×30 in
A litterateur, his book and reading station are shown within an ecology… of window light blocks, penetrated by outside flora, patterned breezes and curling walls.
Vining Lines. 2017
Pastel. 22×28 in
A girl drank words at the window…
Sharing their gist and core
With the morning light of Bangalore
And with the slender pepper vine
Curling beside… in a third floor alcove.
– Bolbul
Rooter, 2000
Charcoal, 8×12 in
A tree I see,
Rather as a man of art
Whose paper foliage sings…
But water it one must,
For years in secret…
Talk to it from ground to terrace,
For it to stretch its charcoal wings.
– Bolbul
Glass Clear Head. 2019
Charcoal. 22×30 in
To think clearly she would
The glass doors of her mind slide
Until lit all corners with curling light.
You Remember! 2018
Pastel. 22×30 in
College campus night deserted… but the feeder of stray dogs remembers. Woman, dog, trees, light and dark, all share reimagined corporeal elements.
Glucose Biscuits. 2015
Charcoal. 18×24 in
With the doggie even the evening sun
Extends a lapping tongue
For glucose biscuits… offered by the kind man.
Omelet Beth. 2020
Pastel. 20×26 in
Sexy, stick figured Beth makes an omelet… ensconced in her world where light, kitchen counters, walls et al… all curl.
Yell Territorial. 2020
Charcoal. 22×30 in
After a passing truck, a barking dog runs. His concerned lady owner from far yells, to halt the tussle territorial. All figures have exploded, primitives made form.
Turiya (Consciously), 2024
Charcoal, 11×14 in
I sleep too like you…
So darkness may do
Its quilted, flowery magic upon my head…
Perceptible from corners aloof.
Les Boules de Neige, 2023
Pastel, 18×28 in
Himalayan snows aglow,
Turned to rose,
Grant a mind meditative repose.
Yufism: An Outline
Yufism introduces new compositional principles and constructs to painting. These engender unprecedented imagery and expression. They form a base layer with which aesthetic styles and subject themes are integrated.
The principles include transposition, intermelding, division and subtraction of shape, behaviour and identities among others. For example, a composition may be in parts figurative, still life and landscape.
Over 60 prototypical artworks may be seen at https://istarah.art/ Concepts are explicated with reference to particular paintings and zoomed in views under menu ‘Yufism: Concepts’. A poetic view of the same is under menu ‘New Streak ‘.
About Amitabh Ashesh
Amitabh Ashesh is an alumnus of Stanford University’s Art Dept. Since 2014, he has made stylistic and conceptual innovations such as use of scenic elements in human figuration, anthropomorphic and recursive scenery, articulation of the invisible, exploded or extruded objects and blending of forms. These are presented under the rubric of Yufism.
At Stanford University (1988-1994) he trained with professors Kristina Branch, Frank Lobdell, David Hannah, Jane Rosen and Larry Thomas – all of whom have historical legacies.
His early paintings are in the collection of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Palo Alto and Felix Reynolds.
Amitabh has been a creative director at JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agencies; an illustrator for Oxford University Press and Macmillan: and a director of films for prominent clients. He is a prolific and oft commended poet.
Amitabh also studied TV production at the University of Florida (1986-88) and electrical engineering at the IIT Bombay (1981-85). His wife teaches Indian and Renaissance history at the University of Delhi.
Three photos of Amitabh
Is Tarah 