The Practice
Tradition, observation, interpretation and craft — the four pillars of Dr Piyush Kiran Nayak's Mithila painting practice, line before colour.
I. Tradition
I ground my work in the classical Mithila vocabulary — its gods, its borders, its grammar of line — learned through workshops and my ongoing formal study at Shilp Kala Vidyapeeth.
II. Observation
Nature, people, mythology and everyday life guide my eye — peacocks and fish remembered from my childhood notebooks, the exhibitions I visited in Patna, the Mithila textiles that fill my home.
III. Interpretation
My own ideas now enter the traditional language — compositions that began as recreations have grown into my own interpretations.
IV. Craft
Line before colour. Fine hatching, double-line borders, patient pattern work and a palette drawn from the earth — the discipline that lets the image hold.