Banyan Roots Meet Cathedral Walls: Matthew Krishanu’s Artful Balancing Act

In Matthew Krishanu’s paintings, water isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a symbol of liberation, threading through memories of childhood in South Asia and leafy escapes in London’s Epping Forest. His brushwork flows with the same freedom, especially in the sweeping banyan trees that seem to drip and stretch beyond the canvas. Yet, this sense of release is sharply contrasted by his "Mission" series, where tightly packed church interiors brim with the weight of tradition and authority. Krishanu’s art doesn’t shy away from the complexities of power: white priests preside over South Asian congregations, and iconic European images of Christ hover over family scenes, quietly exposing the colonial undertones of religious imagery. Family, faith, and empire intertwine, not as binaries but as a tangled web of influence and inheritance. His compositions juggle sharp architectural lines with loose, organic forms, always circling back to the question of who holds power—and how it’s seen. In Krishanu’s world, the divine is both intimate and contested, as fluid as water and as rooted as a banyan tree. #ContemporaryArt #SouthAsianArt #CulturalIdentity #Culture