Such pastiche of mish-mashing two different genres from vastly different ages – ‘myth’ and ‘modern’—sounds like a paradox and there triumphs Preema’s attempt to overturn the cliché concept of the ‘idolized’ Radha. For instance, to begin with, ‘Rosy Tradition’: the title itself breaks the orthodox way of metaphorizing women. The next, ‘Knitting the Veil’ is certainly far away from the previous ‘veil’ series ‘Staring Women’. On the contrary, here the tone is celebratory and illusionary paving the platform for Preema’s new myth on Radha to be born with new lenses without boundaries and chains.
There Preema begins her tales to surprise the viewers with a new Radha—no saree, no archetype fashion accessories; rather this Radha seems free-flowing far from typical attire-chains, almost half nude in many paintings like Concept of Modern Radha I, Concept of Modern Radha-9, and Concept of Modern Radha-10.
Preema’s paintings seem like fashion designing sketchbook where modern Radha wears Bengali ethnic jewelries, short scarfs on neck, contrasting ear-rings and neck chains, large stone-art necklaces, and even contemporary slim-fit gown in artworks like ‘Opposite Persona’ and ‘Concept of Modern Radha II’ and many more.
Such portrayal of Radha in mixed media on canvas, oil on canvas, and mixed media on paper ascertains Preema’s postmodern vision that frees women from the standardization of the culture industry, because orthodox notions cherish the image of Radha as an epitome of love and sacrifice for the patriarchal benefits. But, Preema’s vision on canvas surpasses beyond such impressions and erases the circle which the society has drawn since ages.
