In this exclusive conversation with Her Circle, artist Maya Burman opens up about her artistic journey, identity, and the deeply personal lens through which she creates her work.
Burman’s art is often described as intricate and evocative. It’s a dreamlike world where figures, nature, and pattern entwine. Born in France to two influential artists, Burman’s creative roots are truly transcultural, blending European sensibilities with echoes of Indian visual traditions. Although she grew up in France and only visited India for the first time in her early twenties, she later recognised that many elements she once thought of as purely ‘French’ in her aesthetic were, in fact, shaped by her Indian heritage and visual memory.
In this interview, Burman reflects on the feminine energy that flows through her work. She explains how the women she paints are often maternal figures and women in motion who embody a sense of strength and nuance that she feels is inherently her own. Even the men in her paintings often appear with childlike eyes and gentle presence, suggesting an expressive continuity of emotion and sensitivity across all her subjects.
The painter also talks about how her environment has shaped her approach to art. Moving from city life to a rural village transformed her perception of nature, no longer a distant landscape, but a living character in its own right. She describes how tending a vegetable garden and living closely with the rhythms of the natural world influenced her creative process, bringing a deeper, almost tactile engagement with her surroundings into her paintings.
Burman works with ink, watercolour, and pencil colour, often building her pieces with multiple washes and fine details to create texture, depth, and narrative within every composition. She speaks candidly about the challenges and joys of being a woman artist, balancing the roles of creator, homemaker, and professional. In her words, as women, we often have to be more efficient and attentive, not just at work, but in how we manage every aspect of life.
Her recent and ongoing exhibitions, including her show in Mumbai’s Art Musings Gallery in Colaba, continue to anchor her presence in both Indian and international art scenes. Whether you’re an art lover, an aspiring creator, or simply curious about how identity shapes creativity, this conversation with Maya Burman invites you into the quiet wonder of an artist’s life and practice.