I love to paint illegally on city streets. People either ignore it or react by complaining to the officials or white-wash it themselves. They forget that the destruction of art is still art.

Studying this abstraction, I chose to paint the Indian God, Shiva. His powers of destruction and recreation are used to destroy the illusions and imperfections of this world, paving the way for beneficial change. If you change the avatar of the Gods and paint it without permission, it can be highly unsafe where I live. I replaced the trident in his hand with a paint roller and added a paint bucket.

I painted this on the National Highway in Bombay, India during peak traffic to avoid the patrolling police. I painted swiftly and bounced off without taking any pictures as it was dark. I returned the next day for better pictures to find out a lady in a red saree offering praying to the painting. I waited for my turn to get a photograph without her in it and left the site.

Stencil - 8 Layers