Currently indexing
Tulsi, the Goddess of King's Cross
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 2022
Artist: Raksha Patel
Dimensions:
510 × 400 × 40 mm (51 × 40 × 4 cm)
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Object number: PA.2022.238.CC
DescriptionThe painting portrays the Tulsi or Holy Basil plant that is revered and sacred in parts of South Asia. In Hinduism the Tulsi is a personification of the Goddess Lakshmi, and in her plant form she symbolises virtue and purity. The painting shows her standing powerful and alone, overseeing the landscape of King’s Cross. She embodies the personal stories of the women and girls who have passed through this area and looks towards the post-colonial future of King’s Cross.
The painting is in response to the botanical drawings and prints in the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection. They span the 16th to 19th centuries, a time of European exploration, trade and colonialisation, when many plants were described from a Western perspective that altered or erased their value to indigenous communities.
Painting by Raksha Patel commissioned by the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection, funded by Diversity Matters grant from Museum Development London.
The painting is in response to the botanical drawings and prints in the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection. They span the 16th to 19th centuries, a time of European exploration, trade and colonialisation, when many plants were described from a Western perspective that altered or erased their value to indigenous communities.
Painting by Raksha Patel commissioned by the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection, funded by Diversity Matters grant from Museum Development London.