About

Welcome to MokshaShots!

I’m Jenny Bhatt,  artist, writer and humorist based in Mumbai, India.

MokshaShots is my ongoing series of multi-media artworks, including painting, sculpture, digital interactive art and comics.

About MokshaShots! (Yes, the exclamation is part of it’s identity).

MokshaShots started as one big, wild vision. I wanted to make art that was accessible, funny, erased boundaries between genres and encompassed art and design. I know, I know it was a tall order! Things slowly fell into place.

MokshaShots was first exhibited in a solo exhibition of painting, sculpture and digital interactive art in Mumbai, in Dec 2009. Since then, MokshaShots has been exhibited in London, New Delhi, Byron Bay Australia, New York, Amsterdam and Berlin.

I’ve recently started a MokshaShots Webcomic.                                                                        Follow it here: http://mokshashots.tumblr.com

Concept:

I coined the word MokshaShots because I could see everyone grappling for this elusive thing called Happiness or Fulfilment. And I happened to have read a lot of philosophy in my angst-ridden years!
In Hindu and Buddhist philosophical thought, Moksha means Salvation. A MokshaShot is a taste of the Sublime.
Everyone can make his own MokshaShot out of anything s/he finds fulfilling – art, chocolate, a film, a vacation, a muffin, a smile or a tequila shot…

MokshaShots is a series of satirical works. Since we all have a penchant for veneration, I created deities called MokshaPets. There are 5 major deities. Each represents a different aspect of the Self.

MokshaBuy, the Consumer Goddess: Her mantra is ‘The Incredible Lightness of Buying’. Her insatiable appetite for all things consumable is manifested in her multiple hands that hold weapons of mass consumption.

Mokshasura is the God of Necessary Evils. His mantra is “I’m a chocolate flavoured evil.” He’s the bright side of the dark side- a likable evil. He’s a small (if not large) part of us all.

Reverance (MokshaGuru) is the politically correct image of self-righteousness. His posture symbolizes the tenet ‘See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil and No Sex’
This means he’s always truthful, saintly, eminently worshipable and thus unbearably boring. His mantra is “Karmic Brownies are tax free.”

Irreverence (MokshaBrat) is politically incorrect. This means he is also always truthful, funny, not-so-saintly and thus a lot of fun!
His mantra is “This is not the life I’d ordered”. The two are inseparable.

MokshaBum is the Thinker and Armchair philosopher. His mantra is “ To each his own pet illusion.”
Thinking is his job. He never gets up, moves little and expounds a lot. Everything just comes to him. (For some people, life is just perfect!)
P.S. We don’t know if he has a girlfriend 😉

MokshaCat added most recently to the cast, is a mischievous spiritual Seeker.

Others:

Kundalini, the snake and Seeker: Latent energy said to be situated at the base of the human spine. As it rises up the spine via the seven energy centers, the seeker is said to have made progress on the spiritual path. When it leaves the upper most energy center on the crown of the head, the Seeker is said to have attained Moksha.

The Third Eye: center of Intuition, situated vertically between the two eyes. Also the center of the Brightest Ideas. Always half-open, but also half shut – centered in Self.

The Eyeball: Alert, but often misinterprets what it sees, it’s a favorite scapegoat of Maya (Illusion). Hindu and Buddhist philosophical thought says that Enlightenment cannot be attained by intellectual pursuit, but by direct perception. Most powerful and communicative of the 5 senses, the Eyeball in this work is used as a symbol of Perception / Awareness. It’s everywhere.

Karmic Brownies: These are brownie points you get depending on the good deeds you do. There is no way you can predict what might get you the highest points. Unless of course, if you want to do something special for MokshaShots!

ThoughtPill (Thought Supplement): Used as a thought supplement for the Mind – to wake up those sleepy or repressed thoughts.

 

So, enjoy MokshaShots!

Connect with us on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/JennyBhatt

https://www.facebook.com/MokshaShots

Tweets by jennybhattart

https://www.instagram.com/jennybhatt/

Paintings and comics can be viewed on my Reddit account /u/FunnyArtist

(Note: All text, images, characters, objects and digital art represented herein, under the name MokshaShots, are registered for copyright internationally, to Artist / Author Jenny Bhatt).