The Balcony, 1990 – Self-portrait

Artist Rekha Rodwittiya (born 1958)

dated 1990, Watercolour on paper
58 x 42.5 in. (147.5 x 108 cm.)

In this portrait, Rekha presents herself not as a singular likeness, but as a self-portrait of every woman shaped by the legacies of female courage. The clothed female figure, turning her gaze away under a crescent moon, embodies her own stance of resistance— rooted in feminist conviction and informed by the many ancestries
of women’s voices she carries within.

Besides her, stands a nude male figure, stripped of individuality and instead cast as the omnipresent symbol of patriarchy. In his palm rests an offering—an image is traditionally associated with acts of reverence. Yet here it transformed into a gesture of quiet seduction, an attempt to undermine the woman’s resolve.

Rodwittiya’s composition, bold in colour and expressionistic in form, stages this encounter like theatre. Her surface bears the marks of agitated gesture, amplifying the tension between defiance and dominance. The work resonates with the influence of women authors such as Kamala Das, Alice Walker, and Maya Angelou. Their writings celebrate female spirit while confronting struggle.

As a self-portrait, The Balcony transcends the personal, becoming an archetype—a collective face of women who meet the gaze of power and refuse to yield.