Hanuman Kambli initially practiced drawing. After training in painting at the Goa College of Art and in graphic arts at Kala Bhavan, he adeptly translated his drawing style onto printing plates. Under Somnath Hore and Sanat Kar, he developed a playful pictorial style which presents a narrative incorporating concepts from Indian religion, mythology, and daily lifestyle. Many of Kambli’s works focus on the relationship between figures. This print emphasizes the disconnect by using a structural element to cast the reclining figure into shadow while the multi-faced figure, a common inclusion in Kambli’s prints alluding to but not directly representing the combinatory Vedic deity Trimurti, is exposed in the bright light.

As Hanuman Kambli was establishing his own aesthetic style during his studies in India and later at the Wimbledon School of Art in London from 1994 to 1995, he was particularly drawn to the art of Pablo Picasso. The segmented Cubist style allowed for an expressive depiction of traditional Indian motifs such as grand architecture or multi-headed figures. During his visit to the United States as a Fulbright scholar in 1998-1999 with direct support from Charles Stroh, at that time an instructor at the University of Michigan, Kambli delivered lectures and demonstrations at various institutions around Michigan and in Chicago. He then worked at the Robert Blackburn Printing Workshop in New York City alongside other international printmakers.