Her primary painting mediums are watercolours, ink, charcoal and acrylic on canvas. Most often centring on nature, gods and goddesses, her original depictions combine folk, myth and mythology to tell stories of deities who braved adversities.[4]
Strongly influenced by spiritual beliefs and sacred texts, Burman expresses her creativity with poetic lyricism that is part fairytale and part organic. The Ganga river has had an indelible impact on her and she has painted the river in myriad forms with allegorical elements like swan, flowers, vines, fish and more. The recent devastation and destruction of the waters of the river as an aftermath of the pandemic greatly stirred her and ultimately culminated in River of Faith.[5]
The genesis of being in this exhibition must begin with the 4 sculptures that traverse generations of legends stories and mythical renderings.[6]
River of Faith, a tribute to the Ganges which is the life force of India, connecting its inhabitants across space and time. In her imagination, the Ganga assumes many forms, embodying both fantasy and reality, fertility and ferocity, origin and annihilation, hope and despair. Her unique stylisation creates a visual language that allows for exciting new modes of perception.[7]
The spatial arrangement of this Jahnavi that runs into 36' in two diptychs coincides with constructivist ideas and theoretical discussions on the expressive power of monochromatic moods and moorings created with dense charcoal in thicker passionate contours of controlled compositional spaces. From the beginning of her days of pedagogy Jayasri has believed that colours and lines have independent symbolic meanings, and they presented a spiritual flow of imagery: Contours create space, development, and mood, whereas flowing filled lines represent time, extension, and deep thought.[8]
2018Born of Fire: A Tale for our Times, AICON Gallery, New York In Draupadi, artist Jayasri Burman sees a feminist icon who should be remembered for her keen political skills, self-determination, and relatability. Simultaneously monumental and detailed, the Draupadi works reimagine the visual history of the Mahabharata without forgetting the traditions that birthed them. Pulling from a vast coffer of Hindu mythos, Burman reimagines traditional depictions of female goddesses by imbuing them with bright color and energy.[9]
Gazing Into The Myth, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore Jayasri has admitted that she always found folk art inspiring. She is able to see and discover vital and organic links between mythical icons and their folk expressions. This discovery, in turn, goes into making some of her works to be what they are – visual sites where the classical and the folk merge to create a lively sense of the contemporary. It is not a contemporaneity all by itself; lonely and isolated, though moments of loneliness and isolation could also be discerned. It is an inclusive contemporaneity which is continuous with the past. To revert to the reigning metaphor, it is a flowing contemporaneity, which cuts across barriers of time.
Though Jayasri may not like to claim any links to the current feminism, her art has a powerful presence of women in it. There is femininity with strength, lyricism with vitality, rootedness in iconography and symbolism with dynamism and energy. They may be sad, lonely once in a while. But in all circumstances they are a strong presence. The aura around them is created through the carefully crafted details which give them locations and, perhaps, their inevitable names.[10]2010Fables and Folklore, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Burman has been recognized throughout her career:[11]
An award by the College of Visual Arts in Tempera for Outstanding Merit in the Annual Exhibition in 1979[citation needed]
In 2016, she was awarded by the Government of West Bengal for making the best Durga Puja Idol for Behala Notun Dal, a cultural association in Kolkata, West Bengal.[citation needed]
She was invited at the President’s House as an Artist-in-Residence[citation needed]
She has played an active role in "Ananya Festival," a week-long celebration by the Ministry of Women and Child Development for International Women's Day during 5–9 March 2007. These stamps have been designed by Burman and released by the Honourable Vice President of India.[12]
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