Nataraja

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) wanted his art to go beyond straightforward representation, giving viewers a more participatory experience, like listening to music. He aimed to create a sense of movement in his work and saw colour as an essential tool in this. These same principles can be seen the work of Bridget Riley (born 1931), who uses geometric shapes and colour to explore the nature of perception. Riley describes her use of different tones as a change ‘tempo’, pitching shades of colour ‘against the structure of the formal movement’. Nataraja 1993 refers to the Hindu god Shiva, who is usually depicted with many arms in his form as the cosmic dancer.