10/21/2026
🏆 Best of Show: “Cosmic Swirl” by Sangeeta Gupta! 🏆
Congratulations to Sangeeta Gupta, whose intricate ink work "Cosmic Swirl" was voted Best of Show in Fall Into Art: A Pop-up Exhibition at F-O-K Studios, part of the St. Paul Art Crawl!
Look closely and you’ll find a whole sea of tiny, hand-drawn fish spiraling toward a single larger fish at the center, all framed by a border of still more fish. The patience, detail, and rhythm in this piece captivated visitors all weekend.
The work expands the traditional limits of folk art into the realm of high abstraction. The artwork employs the dense, line-heavy Godna style of the Mithila region of India—a technique historically associated with ancient tattoo rituals and the basis of Mithila Folk Art. Devoid of color, Gupta relies entirely on the precise rhythm of fine ink lines and strategic negative space to generate a powerful sense of optical kinetic energy. By arranging hundreds of intricately rendered fishes—a traditional symbol of earthly abundance—into a vast, concentric spiral, the composition charts a hypnotic path outward from a singular central nexus. Gupta creates a striking visual metaphor for the macrocosm, likening the synchronized movement of oceanic life to the silent, swirling rotation of galaxies. Cosmic Swirl challenges the two-dimensional plane, offering a unique perspective in precision, symmetry, and traditional storytelling reimagined through a contemporary lens.
Even better, Cosmic Swirl has found a new home, and Sangeeta has a new collector! 🖤
Thank you to everyone who visited, voted, and supported the artists in the show. Stay tuned for our next open call, and we hope to see you at a future F-O-K Studios event.
