Thota Vaikuntam grew up in rural Andhra Pradesh where he drew inspiration from the rustic scenery and people around him. The rural and folk themes continue to permeate his oeuvre to this day. The colours are vibrant and lush, primary hues that depict his south-Indian subjects with great vividness. He adds a distinctive humour and a theatricality which almost seems like he is fondly lampooning the characters who people his paintings.

"He made sketches of people in the village and internalised a statement he had heard from the fraternity that art stems from an artist's roots. The few years saw him focus more deeply on rural folk and lifestyles, using primary colours of red, green, blue and browns. He emphasises how he used colours worn by people than go by the diktats of an artist's colour palette. Turmeric yellows and the large vermilion on the forehead also become his signature style" (in an article by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo, 15th February 2019).

This 2006 acrylic on canvas work is stylized and evocative with detail. The patterns of the woman's garments, her carefully shaded face, the vivid colours juxtaposed against darker hues, all bring out the folk idiom. The play of bright yellow against a sombre blueish black and the deep red fill one with a profound sense of the dramatic that is absorbing and arresting.