The Inner Circle :
Wheel of Life and Other Works of Dako ji Devraj

Dr. B. S. Rohini Iyengar

Rohini Iyengar elaborates on the calescence of therianthropic imagery and mystical mythological forms and what they convey in the work of Dakoji Devraj.

Inhabited by a vast variety of imagery from the natural world with a few exceptions like the wheel, Dakoji Devraj’s works set in motion his unique perceptions, which have retained their prominence despite technical excellence in various art media . Journey of the repertoire of signifiers in his works begin with the rocky landscapes from his native , then they move on to beckon the animals and birds, which call upon mythical characters and human forms to join in traversing spaces within the picture surface. It might, at having a fleeting glance of the works, give us an impression that they are rather easy to be categorized and simplistic in a manner in which one would approach writing a diary. In this sense Devraj’s works are like memoires or accounts of day to day activities, which pass by in a continuous flow of time without many changes.

Thus, we most often find a pageant of animals and/or birds sometimes along with humanoid figures as if they are very casually arranged. For, a diary ispersonal and only written for one self, therefore it is a simple, free or even casual prose. Yet, by the same token it is constituted by the ultimate and the most intimate expression of the ‘self ’. Here, through Devraj’s visual language, a crow, peacock, cow, horse, man, woman etc. spring forth to convey thoughts from the deepest areas of the artist’s psyche. Then the works take on the contours of dreams that emerge from the unconscious, which use visuals to signify literal as well as layered meanings that are sophisticated in their structure and are more like poetry. The more one delves into Devraj’s works more are the possibilities of discovering the interplay of such dichotomies that may lead to comprehending the narratives of the artist’s self. Following are the broad themes and signifiers in Devraj’s works from the beginning of his career as an artist.