As a typical south Indian artist from Kumbakonam, Santhana Krishnan believes in treasuring the heritage and culture that his ancestors built. What speaks more about our culture and heritage than the adobe that we live in, he asks. The home speaks about the past, present and future of a family and the most vital aspect to any home is the front door. His work revolves around this entrance. He paints wooden, soot-covered, kumkum and turmeric marking covered doors because they fascinate him more in comparison to the modern state of the art technology-driven doors. He believes that each door has a story to narrate, and there will always be people interested in that story.

“Some of my doors open into an interior with tulsitharas in the inner courtyards and some of my closed doors with a huge lock show faded house numbers and painted advertisements. Through this, I wish to depict the lives of the people living behind these doors. Most of my doors are not from urbanized cities but from the rural homes that I grew up watching every day. I know and believe that a door speaks volumes. It can either be kept wide open, inviting you in or it can be closed and keep a million secrets locked up. All it takes is a door to say the words a man cannot.”