January

Starting at the beginning of our journey as professional artists, our father is the main subject of the very first set of paintings (comprising four works) we created in our signature, contemporary Indian miniature style as university art students. Collectively titled, 'Daddy in the Sitting Room' series, these depict our father at home in England reading his medical journal. The series was created in response to the cultural prejudice we faced at University from art tutors who dismissed our work as "backward", "outdated" and having "no place in contemporary art", simply because it was rooted in traditional Indian art forms. We were told to look to western role models in art.

Refusing to bend to our tutors' dictates we began instead to create work that exaggerated the core characteristics of Indian miniature painting. Within this context our contemporary development of the style became a political statement in itself: one which challenged the 'west is best' attitude of our tutors and asserted the equal value of non-European art forms. This narrative is symbolised by the changing colour palette, content and composition of the 'Daddy In The Sitting Room' series, which becomes increasingly more Indian as the series progresses.

Incorporated into the imagery are objects we recall from childhood being displayed around the family home: objects (including painted wooden elephants, brass ornaments, Indian musical instruments, a carved table, and daggers) which served as reminders of our Indian roots and sowed the seeds of the love we developed for Indian arts. Alongside these are representations of the Taj Mahal and a carving from the Ellora Caves, denoting some of the many places we visited during our trip to India in 1980.

That amazing journey of self-discovery deepened our sense of identity in our Punjabi, Indian roots at a time when we might easily have succumbed to the peer pressure to reject it in favour of western culture. From that point onwards we were not about to let anyone (art tutors included) tell us that our heritage was inferior and this is ultimately what lies behind the 'Daddy in The Sitting Room' series and other works like it.