Golden Droppings

This elegant and subdued work, like many by Sheikh, is based on a story from the Jataka, a great tradition of Buddhist literature that celebrates Buddha’s teachings and virtues. Illustrated from left to right, a hunter witnesses a bird’s droppings turning into gold as soon as they hit the ground. He captures the bird in a cage and gifts it to the King, who releases the bird following the skepticism of his ministers, only to regret when the bird’s droppings indeed become gold. The artist drew the beginning and end of the story on raw silk while the bird’s captivity, a major turning point, was executed on handmade paper. The sequencing of the narrative in discrete visual segments references Sheikh’s study of compositional strategies used in Mughal and Rajput painting traditions, while the use of the traditional medium of silk highlights an ongoing exploration of its potential in contemporary artmaking by postwar Indian artists.