Morning Bengali chants, listening to Indian epics carved artist Jayasri Burman's imagination

In a series of inspiring conversations with iconic women achievers, whose creativity and commitment to their craft make them distinctive, Zoya, the diamond boutique from the House of Tata, presents ‘Finely Crafted Journeys’.

This time, Zoya’s muse was Jayasri Burman, one of India’s respected contemporary artists whose work is globally acclaimed. Burman’s art refashions the universe of mythologies, acquiring an entirely novel meaning and nuance.

In such a reinterpreted, reinvented, revised and reimagined canvas, she expresses her signature spontaneity, just as Zoya jewellery finds unique design direction from iconic inspirations.


What inspired you to pursue your craft as an artist?
Growing up to the morning chants and prayers in a very Bengali household and listening to the Indian epics for staple diet, I learnt to imagine the characters and create the scenarios very early in life. It was only natural that I took up art as my profession and life. I could express my emotions like a prayer that flew from my pen and ink to the drawing board to take mythical forms and lyrical figures surrounded by nature.

What does creativity mean to you?
Nature is the greatest and most sublime creator; building and rebuilding forms and patterns each and every moment. To me that is the greatest form of creativity —which is closest replicated in art — the ability to interpret and reinterpret multiple meanings and look for the inherent goodness within.

What do you enjoy most about your craft?
There is a sense of simplicity in the way I have nurtured my relationship with my art. It merges my artistic journey with the sublime.

Zoya and me
I truly admire Zoya’s craftsmanship and design and purity. I appreciate the interpretation of inspiration into designs that will be forever stylish, as the iconic never gets boring.