Medical Director Abhi Goli leads clinicians in our specialist services across Lancashire and South Cumbria, but in his spare time he’s also a talented artist!
Abhi leads clinicians across a number of our services including Forensic Mental Health, and Perinatal and to celebrate South Asian Heritage Month (#SouthAsianHeritageMonth), which runs between July 18 and August 17, he’s sharing with us his amazing colourful art project which celebrates his Indian heritage and Hindu faith.
The project began as his personal wellbeing pledge at LSCft, to spend more time being more creative and artistic - and resulted in him painting his garden fence panels to wind down after a day at work. The results are simply beautiful and each one represents something special. Here. You can find out what each of Abhi’s beautiful paintings represent.
Abhi explained:
"I have really enjoyed doing this art project. This image illustrates a typical southern Indian village where rice is the staple food of the region. It illustrates the gruelling process of growing rice and the blood, sweat and tears that goes into the process. It shows gratitude to Indian farmers reminding us to respect food and how it gets from rice fields onto our plates.”
"This is Gautam Buddha. He was born in northern part of India. Buddha means “enlightened.” The path to enlightenment is attained through morality, meditation and wisdom. The lotus flower represents purity of the body, speech and mind and this reminds me to meditate and experience the here and now during a stressful day.”
"This image is Lord Balaji or Venkateshwara. He is an incarnation of Vishnu - God in Hindu religion. He is considered as a controller of the universe and the beings in it. He is our family god and reminds me of my identity and existence. It’s believed to bring calm and peace where they are placed.”
"This image is Ardhanarishvara, a form of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. This image represents that both male and female are equal in society, and the yellow image is Lord Ganesh the Elephant god and son of Shiva and together they represent a family unit.”
"This painting is of is Hanuman the monkey god. He is the symbol of strength and energy. He is remembered for his selfless dedication to the God. He has the ability to fly and reach his goals and dreams with his powers. Remembering and praying is believed to give you the strength to deal with any obstacles come your way.”
“This is an image I painted of Krishna playing the Flute. He is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. He narrated the holy book which Hindus believe in. Krishna is the ideal of divine love, the God of love. He teaches us to stay in union with god.”
“These three images are Warli paintings. This is a style specific to the largest tribe in India. They use geometric shapes to draw or paint day to day activities and chores that people in Indian villages go through.
These paintings represent my life at work, at home, my marriage and family, and the three together on my fence panels remind me of the Importance of having a good work life balance."
"This painting is of a traditional Kathakali dancer. The Kathakali dance originates from the Indian state of Kerala in India. It’s a classical Indian dance, distinguished by elaborate colourful make-up, costumes and face masks. In India the seven major forms of art are painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, music, cinema, and theatre.”
“This painting is of Goddess Kali who reminds us about motherhood and the destruction of evil. She is considered the ‘Shakti’ female power. The Lamps are called Diyas. Diyas symbolise goodness and purity and lighting them is about dispelling darkness and going into the light.”
"This is a painting of Lord Ganesh the Elephant god and he symobolises wisdom, knowledge and perfection.
Before performing any chores or duties it is believed to remember and pray to him. He brings luck and prosperity."
Abhi summarised:
“For me it’s been lovely to celebrate my Indian heritage and share it with you as part of South Asian Heritage Month.
Doing the artwork helps me relax and I hope people have enjoyed it and may feel inspired by it to be creative in celebrating who they are!”
We hope that Dr Abhi’s artwork has taught you something, not least to be proud of who you are!
