STUDENT CATEGORY
Boat Trip
Oil on Paper 85 × 65 cm
Awarded a cash prize of Rs 25,000/-

Aswathy G S (b. 1990, Kerala) is a visual artist studying Painting at Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts. Her oil paintings focus on gender, domesticity, and cultural memory, drawing from personal experiences. After transitioning from a banking career, Aswathy has exhibited in several group shows, including the 52nd State Exhibition of Art.

Boat Trip reflects on memory and women's interior worlds. Based on a 1980 photograph of the artist’s mother-in-law, the painting blends personal and inherited memory, with Aswathy placing herself in the scene. The boat’s confined space symbolizes societal constraints on women. The work challenges the passive female gaze, using a monochrome palette to evoke timelessness and invite reflection on the personal and political dimensions of women’s lives.