ALCHEMY, MYTH, AND STORYTELLING

From Kerala’s forests to global galleries, Shine Shivan transforms myth, folklore, and personal pilgrimage into monumental oil paintings that shimmer with the magic of alchemy.

Photos By:- Shakshi Gallery

In Paaras, Shine Shivan embarks on a new chapter of his artistic journey, extending his enduring engagement with myth, folklore, and the stories that traverse generations. Named after the legendary touchstone that converts metals into gold, Paaras is both metaphor and method: the act of painting itself becomes an alchemical gesture, translating and reimagining the narratives and myths that Shivan encounters.

STORYTELLING IS A LIVING, BREATHING PRACTICE

Across his career, he has traversed a remarkable range of mediums—from taxidermy and performance to pastel and video—always in pursuit of a distinctive visual language. With Paaras, he turns to oil for the first time, executing monumental works that root themselves in ancient myths yet speak in a vibrantly contemporary voice.

EXPERIENCE AND MEMORY

Each canvas is a convergence of experience and memory. Shivan draws on his personal journeys of pilgrimage and his vast repertoire of visual references: Persian miniatures, Indian painting traditions, colonial works, and Chola bronzes are woven into compositions that feel singularly his own. These influences, filtered through his painterly language, manifest as richly layered narratives, where themes of doubling, identity, and fluidity echo devotional and poetic traditions. Love, transformation, and form intermingle with an effortless lyricism, offering a contemporary meditation on timeless human experiences.

SHIVAN'S EARLY LIFE

Born in 1980 in the lush landscape of Kulananda, Kerala, Shivan’s early life was steeped in nature. Childhood explorations of nearby forests nurtured an intimate connection to the natural world—a source of inspiration that has remained with him, even after his family relocated to Faridabad, Haryana. Over the past decade, this sensibility has crystallised into a visual language that is at once charged and personal, blending the mystical with the tangible, the historical with the contemporary.

SHIVAN'S REWARD AND RECOGNITION

Shivan’s work has garnered international attention. His paintings and installations have been shown at the Tate Modern, London; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Taipei; Prague Biennale 5; and Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Copenhagen. He has received numerous accolades, including the Culture and Education Society National Award, the Ravi Jain Annual Fellowship, the Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship, and a shortlist nomination for the ŠKODA Prize Twenty.

Recent solo exhibitions have further cemented Shivan’s reputation as a compelling contemporary voice: Nidhivan (2022, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai), IN-CULT (2019, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai), and Finding India (MOCA, Taipei, 2010) highlight his evolving exploration of myth, memory, and alchemy.

With Paaras, Shivan invites viewers to step into a world where stories, objects, and histories are transformed, much like the mythical touchstone itself. The exhibition is a meditation on the power of narrative and the magic of transformation, proving once again why Shine Shivan occupies a singular place in contemporary art — a space where folklore, pilgrimage, and personal vision coalesce into luminous, transformative paint.

WHERE TO SEE PARAS

Shine Shivan’s third solo exhibition, Paaras, opens at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, on December 11, 2025 with Art Night Thursday and runs until January 3, 2026.