Motoart Musings - The Year 2020 and a Himalayan on Water-Crossings
2020 has been a crazy year of very few ups and mostly downs, bumpier than ever. While we all motorcyclists would’ve preferred the bumpy roads to places like Khardung La and the North East, 2020 had other plans.
That’s not to say that 2020 has been a year in vain.
One of our usual mornings in Bangalore turned out to be a prime example of that. My morning coffee on that particular day left an uneasy aftertaste. Not because there was anything wrong with the coffee itself, but rather because another year had passed and I had to content myself with just watching Leh in all the kickass Instagram content and vlogs folks like Akhtar (Winter Wanderer), Vir, Rohith (Toll Free Traveller), and the likes were putting out.
“What could be done?”, I wondered to myself. There was an itch and it had to be scratched. Fast forward a few hours later, this is what I had at hand -
How Did I Get There?
Once I have an idea floating around my head, I can't wait to materialize it. So I sat down at my desk with my mind running amok on what’s the one thing about Leh that captures our fascination the most.
And there came the answer...
From Rani Nallah to the lesser-known ones, water-crossings are some of the most iconic
parts of riding in the mountains, especially onwards Leh. We’ve all watched videos of people traversing water-crossings on their Bullets, Tigers and 42s, sometimes to hilarious and exciting effect.
Akhtar a.k.a winter_wanderer nailing water crossings with the utmost ease.
I can only imagine how it must be... To be standing there right before the water-crossing, with your fingers freezing, breathing heavy, and your pals ushering you to go for it. Of course, there’s probably no one jumping with excitement, because this is serious business. But even in those frigid temperatures, having friends who’re there to hold you and help you cross that mini-river must make one feel warm and nice inside.
And that's how this artwork came to life.
Now how this artwork was created is a different story altogether. I came upon this style by mistake about half a decade ago. And I love it for the fact that -
1. It depicts action! Isn’t that what a lot of us perceive motorcycling to be about?
2. It deconstructs the act of riding and captures the nuances of a moment.
And you’ll be seeing a lot more such artworks based on this deconstruction style in the days
to come.
The Story Doesn’t End There, of Course
Art that captures your imagination and helps you put your thoughts into action should be celebrated. And what better way to remind myself and many others that the water-crossings aren’t far away than to carry it around... Sporting it while we move and ride out and about in the post-pandemic world of ours. :)
With this musing out of the way, we're excited to announce new changes that we're bringing to your favourite Motorcycle Art platform in the very near future.
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Until next time...
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Mallika Prakash is a motoartist and a curator who started life in Delhi, her art career in San Francisco and recently moved to Bangalore. She started Moto Art Show in 2018 in response to a lack of opportunity to exhibit motoart in India and began curating and hosting motorcycle-centric art exhibitions, bringing together a like minded community. She is extremely passionate about carving a space for motoart and everything it has to offer in the physical art world.