The Perfume Makers

I am not a picture maker. I find the subject matter when the painting is about 80% finished. The leftover 20% remains a stopgap clarification of the vaguely existing forms and their aesthetic relationship.

This is the time the language enters my head. It could be Marathi, Hindi or English. I let the forms float using various techniques and my memories of visual objects seen in the past. In the beginning I thought of this painting as the distilled liquor maker but then I added figures, military ones but I tore them down to non-military.

When I was finishing it I called it Liquor Makers because the figures at the top look like they are having a good time drinking liquor. Then I thought Perfume Makers sounded softer, kinder, nicer whereas Liquor Makers sounded harsh. The painting itself is not a soft painting. It is strong but not harsh.