Banana, a two-part series by Prithvi S Soma and Paresha Bedi

Banana One: a raised golden banana laid diagonally across nine painted squares framed in gold. The squares hold dark green abstraction, orange and purple arcs, blue waves with red drips, pink lilies, a starburst on brown, a crescent moon over a breaking wave, orange loops, a flower lattice and a red block pattern. — Banana One Acrylic, soft pastel and painted card on canvas
Completed 15 October 2026

Banana Two: a raised golden banana laid diagonally across nine painted squares framed in gold. The squares hold a beaded maze, a brown drop with a white star, a pink jewelled pattern, white swirls, a purple stripe, daisies on green, a pink and purple meander, a red and blue spiral, and an orange patchwork. — Banana Two Acrylic, soft pastel and painted card on canvas
Completed 23 October 2026

Two canvases. Two artists. One banana each.

Prithvi and Paresha have known each other for a long time. For this series they painted side by side, sharing the same two canvases, each square in one hand or the other. Their styles are nothing alike. Put together, they answer each other, the way two very different friends do.

Each canvas is divided into nine squares in acrylic and soft pastel, framed in gold. Across each lies a banana cut from card, painted in acrylic and raised off the surface, which makes the series mixed media as well as a collaboration.

Banana One and Banana Two now live apart, one in each artist's home. Each is a reminder of the other, and of a friendship that has lasted.

Series completed 23 October 2026

Who painted which square?

Tap a square and make your guess. There are eighteen squares in all, and one of them was painted by both.

Pick any square to start.

Prithvi Paresha Both

Making it

Newspaper on the floor, base coats in nine colours, card bananas cut by hand, then pattern after pattern until the gold went on.

Is it the original?

Each painting carries an NFC tag set into the work. Hold your phone to it and this page opens with a confirmation that the painting in front of you is the original.