As you step into the Alliance Française de gallery, women come alive on silk sarees floating midair— light, fluid, and dancing gently with the breeze. These digitally printed fabrics were once oil paintings on canvas, transforming the space into a dreamy land of movement and grace, embodying the freedom and fluidity of Indian womanhood. What makes this exhibition even more compelling is the artist herself, Olympe Ramakrishna—a Frenchwoman who fell in love and married an Indian man hailing from Bengaluru. This unique fusion of cultures is evident in every stroke making this exhibition not just a tribute to urban women but a beautiful fusion of culture.
Friends, neighbours, cousins, and even herself—Ramakrishna found her inspiration in every woman around her. She uses her perfect blend of Indo-French culture in her 12 portraits which are on display from March 8 at the Alliance Française de Delhi, Lodhi Estate. Her work, titled “Women of Urban India" aims to capture the essence of urban Indian women and tell their stories of adaptation in an ever-evolving world.
Ramakrishna’s series of powerful portraits as digital prints that are suspended from the top on large-scale dupion silk panels were once oil paintings on canvas.
“I photographed my original oil paintings and digitally printed them on large silk panels, resembling the fabric of saris. I began with traditional methods and then used modern textile printing technology to bring the work into the present,” says artist Ramakrishna.
Sarees and jewellery, two timeless loves of Indian women—find a place in Ramakrishna’s work. The paintings, digitally printed on silk sarees draw inspiration from a simple, monotonous, and yet poetic everyday scene – sarees drying on Bangalore balconies in the afternoon sun. This moment of fabric in motion is reflected in her art, where silk becomes a canvas for the fluidity and grace of womanhood blending tradition and digitalisation.
“The sari, a symbol of sensuality and tradition, evokes a familiar sight in Indian streets, where colorful saris are hung on rooftop wires to dry before being worn,” says Ramakrishna.
Equally striking is her use of jewellery— something Indian women have loved since time immemorial. With beautiful bee-shaped earrings, sun-inspired pendant, and gold bangles and rings, the artist has decked her women in the paintings with jewellery giving them a very sensual touch.
Her compositions also feature flowers, pomegranates, and birds woven into elaborate headpieces and hair accessories, bringing together contemporary artistry with botanical motifs. These elements symbolise both freedom and fertility. Her muses are her friends and family from Bangalore who breathe life into her work, while her brushstrokes, which are French in influence, add an elegance that bridges two artistic worlds together on sarees.
Ramakrishna seeks inspiration from other artists as well. One of her paintings is a self-portrait which does not fail to remind us of Frida Kahlo and her self-portraits. She also names Sher-Gil as her inspiration. “In my self-portrait, I take inspiration from the depictions of court painters from the Mughal manuscript traditions.”
Ramakrishna’s blend of culture has presented unique cultural richness that brings the East and West together, an assertive myth-making that has become an underlying pursuit for the artist. Her exhibition is more than just an artistic endeavour but a story of the evolving identity of urban Indian women in contemporary society. Through her Indo-French lens, Ramakrishna invites viewers to see Indian womanhood not as static, but as ever-adapting, much like the silken sarees that sway gently in the wind.
