Image Credit - India Art Fair
Bhuri Bai belongs to the Bhil tribe in Pitol, Madhya Pradesh and she was the first woman from her tribe to take up painting against all convention. She painted at home while working as a construction worker, gradually covering the walls of her home with vibrant figures that resembled plants, people, and animals.
As a result of artist and writer J. Swaminathan's encouragement, the artist moved to Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, where she continued to develop and gain acclaim for her distinctive style and became the first Bhil artist to use acrylic paint on canvas. Bhuri Bai creates expansive, imaginative settings with human and animal figures using vibrant colour and dotted patterns, in keeping with the ancient methods of Bhil art. According to Bhuri Bai, every time she begins to paint, she thinks back to numerous facets of Bhil culture and existence. Once a particular theme comes to the fore, she brings it to life on her canvas. And her paintings have portrayed every aspect of Bhil life, such as the animals in the forest, the tranquillity of the forest and its trees, gatla (memory pillars), Bhil deities, clothes, jewellery, and gudna (tattoos), houses and granaries, the haat, festivals and dances, and oral storytelling.
We can see the artist's ability to stay true to Bhil art techniques while using them to create a new aesthetic in works like 'Story of the Jungle', in which a whale turns into an aeroplane, and 'Antelopes with Birds', a conventional depiction of an antelope rendered in psychedelic patterning. Bhuri Bai, who in 2021 was given the fourth-highest civilian honour in India—the Padma Shri Award—continues to instruct young women in her village in the customs and methods of Bhil art.