Untitled (Bird and Mountain Series)

It was in the late 1960s that Swaminathan began combining elements from nature in conceptual landscapes. Embracing the metaphorical quality of the surrealists while preserving the formal qualities of Indian miniatures, mountains, trees, rocks and an archetypal bird defying gravity juxtaposed against a pure expanse of colour. This induces the meditative stillness that became the artist's obsession. He borrowed the term 'numinous image' from Philip Rawson to speak about his 'para-natural', magical and mysterious space that is not obvious but is inherent everywhere.

Simplicity of form, bold use of color and symmetry dominate the canvases of this series. Underlying Swaminathan's works is a deep spiritual reverence that seeks to reveal undiscovered forces through nature. He argued in opposition to the Western approach, that traditional Indian paintings were never meant to represent reality in the naturalistic objective sense. Likewise his landscapes became metaphors, or pictorial tools for the understanding of the Indian notion of Maya, or illusion.