Reviews

Painted Prayers
Women's Art in Village India

"In Painted Prayers Stephen P. Huyler pays homage to the domestic art of the subcontinent, where rural women celebrate the birth of a child or successful harvest with elaborate paintings of rice paste, bluing or homemade pigments. Adorning exterior walls, floors, even dirt streets, these breathtaking filigrees can resemble Chantilly lace, Keith Haring characters, even Pennsylvania Dutch flowers."
- The New York Times

"Writer and photographer Stephen Huyler puts another world at our fingertips in his book…. Through richly colored photographs, Huyler brings to life the religious art created by women who paint their homes in homage to the deities they worship or in illustrations of their prayers."
- Chicago Tribune

"... a book of extraordinarily beautiful photographs of women’s holy art, which has lessons of great relevance and importance to teach us..."
- Los Angeles Times

"If it is true that India is suffused with a different light, then certainly there is abundant proof of that in this book.… For generations, women have taught their daughters to prepare adobe walls… then to hand-paint the surface with striking geometric or ornamental patterns. The result is a riot of color sweeping the bleakest landscape of a poor country. Huyler’s breathtaking photography is a magnificent tribute to the spirituality, ingenuity and skill of these anonymous artists."
- Washington Post Book World