Gourishankar Soni

This artwork presents a striking vertical composition where figures in golden tones are scattered across a textured blue surface that resembles crumpled rock, torn paper, or a fractured wall. Each figure seems to emerge from or sink into these irregular voids, caught in gestures of labour, struggle, or contemplation. At the very centre of this turbulent field sits a red, ornate throne-like chair, glowing as a symbol of power, authority, or aspiration.
The figures represent ordinary workers and common people — carrying loads, digging with tools, straining upward, or collapsing under exhaustion. Their arrangement around the empty throne creates a powerful metaphor: while many toil, strive, and endure hardship, the seat of power remains vacant — unattainable, or perhaps waiting to be claimed. The tension between the workers’ endless efforts and the throne’s stillness suggests a critique of social hierarchies, exploitation, and the distance between labour and reward.
Visually, the interplay of blue fractured ground and golden human forms gives the scene both an archaeological and cosmic quality, as if these lives were embedded in the very strata of time. The throne in red disrupts this palette — an alluring focal point that embodies both hope and futility.
This work shifts from abstract geometric symbols (circle, spade) to a more narrative stage: human struggle versus the absence of just leadership. It feels less mythic and more socio-political, grounding the symbolic language in themes of class, labour, and inequality