Pigment, symbol & land.
A research-led strand of the practice centered on the Dongaria Kondh community of Odisha, their relationship with Niyamgiri and the material language of their art.
Art as a daily expression of belonging.
Majhi’s exploration centers on the Dongaria Kondh tribe of Odisha, whose art is described in her project material as an essential, daily expression of their connection to the land and to their deity, Niyam Raja.
Inspired by the community’s use of homes as canvases, she focused on wall paintings and pigment-foraging practices. The research connects image-making to a wider ecological and cultural system in which material, place and belief are interdependent.
Gathering colour from Niyamgiri.
Five natural pigments were gathered from the region: chalk stone, charcoal, turmeric, geru soil and brown stone.
By turning these materials into powders and mixing them with glue, Majhi created a medium physically rooted in the terrain. Painting becomes not only an act of representation but also a material encounter with the environment.
The triangle as mountain, stability and divinity.
The triangular form became a central subject in the residency and related work. Within the supplied research text, it is described as a sacred symbol for the Dongaria Kondh that represents the Niyamgiri hills, stability and divinity.
The motif allows Majhi to work through the community’s own traditional palette and symbolic vocabulary, producing compositions that act as a visual bridge toward their worldview and lifestyle.