Initially sculpted into a Goddess to be worshipped, she later got reduced to a mere blank canvas, a surface onto which everything that a man could be insecure about got projected. All these disparate symbolisms and titles she’s carried the burden of over the years, have tired her out. Maybe, she no longer wishes to engage with either pleasing her audience or challenging them. Now, she just wants to exist for herself, have a cup of coffee by a window, focus on her inner world instead of catering to the constant gaze of viewers expecting something or the other out of her.

For the world, the act of the female subject turning away from her audience may be revolutionary, but for Her, it is just her natural state, how she was always meant to exist and experience life. The viewer is just an onlooker, a mere passerby on the street who happened to look through her window one day. Except for her, there’s been an endless line of passersby now, each of them entitled enough to ask her to be a certain way in order for them to be finally satisfied and go away. Anyone would be unnerved by that! Until she’d finally had enough.

Some artists, like Marie-Denise Villers through their paintings like “Portrait of Charlotte du Val d'Ognes”, decided to give that autonomy to their female subjects early on. Unlike the subject in “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, where the woman is emotionally inviting, this painting seems more like an intrusion into the subject’s everyday life. Hidden in the shadows, she wishes to remain there, undisturbed, as conveyed by her cool, and a slightly bored gaze.

This is where a non-performative woman emerges as a subject in paintings. She is not here to be desired, decoded or understood. She is not relatable, she is not inviting, she doesn’t convey any emotions and most importantly, the viewers, do realise, with a surprising discomfort, that they may be trespassing, when they see her.

In today’s times, where everything and everyone is expected to function like a cog in a machine, the act of moving away from the traditional titles imposed upon her, sure ends up being subversive. A woman being no one’s “someone” is a silent rebellion against centuries of misrepresentation of the female subject.

Artists like Poulomi Pallav Bose, might have gotten pretty close to letting their female subjects embody this defiance. With most of her subjects being women, they either look directly at the viewer, their gaze, radiant, powerful and demanding, or they turn completely inwards, soaking in their own thoughts and presence. Their complete refusal to perform for the viewer in any way is what makes them so compelling. Whether its Bad Bride’s commanding head raise while she enjoys a cigarette or Noor’s soft, yet passionate gaze filled with the possibilities from her own future, they all are their own woman.

However, these empowered subjects are looking for a specific group of viewership. Someone who will allow them to exist as who they are without placing any expectation to be a certain way. Someone who would like to exist alongside them without being threatened by their stillness, ambiguity or defiance. Instead of a devouring gaze obsessed with meaning making, they need their viewership to be at peace with the mere absurd presence of something in whatever form. Ultimately, making art less about consumption and more about coexistence is what these female subjects are hoping for.

To view and read more on Poulomi Bose’s artworks and explore her brand’s exclusive merch line featuring the same, you can explore the page below!