Curator’s Note

 

Adversity encourages innovation; pain draws out hitherto untapped emotions.

In a time wrap when humanity is in the stranglehold of the pandemic of Covid-19 and physically forced into insular lives, new possibilities have arisen; virtual connections have intensified. Even when struck by adversity and pain, creativity continues unabated donning new avatars. The seed of this exhibition of creative expression germinated with the passing away of my mother over a year ago, ergo the theme of mother and associated emotions and experiences. A Mother grants life, nurtures, sustains, loves selflessly. So does Mother Earth.

 

Exhibited are Artworks of ten artists from around the globe, in varied genre and media.

 

Nils-Udo makes site specific installations celebrating nature. In his own words he expresses by “drawing with flowers, painting with clouds, writing with water”

Wherever he creates, in urban spaces, or in the deep womb of forests, he conjures up a wishful habitat, unblemished, unhurt by humans, one may imagine utopian, but then again it’s a world that humanity can preserve and celebrate, if one learns to live in harmony with nature.

 

Himmat Shah at eighty-seven years, continues in a fiery, unwavering, unquenched quest for creativity. Declaring his maxim “karo ya maro” (do or die), he moves forward unfettered and fearless, reminiscent of the creative energy of the legendary Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, dubbed as the “old man mad with art”. Akin to the wonder of a child’s birth from its mother’s womb, Shah’s creations take birth from the humble clay – his ultimate material

 

Rameshwar Broota’s magna canvases are executed in his idiosyncratic technique  - from dark hued paint he coaxes his forms to emerge with scratches of a blade. The sharp jarring of the tool, dichotomous with the wondrous, organic forms that materialize. The intertwining forms in the metamorphoses series hide and reveal mysteries of life. In recent experiments with glass and resin, interplay of altering light assumes vital importance; reflections of birth, growth, the cycle of life.

 

Hildegard Westerkamp’s soundscape compositions weave a magical world of sounds – just sounds – is it euphony, nay its difficult to define. Just to be enjoyed, sensations not paid sufficient heed to – a stimulating sound-sensorial experience.

 

Chang-Hoon Woo’s prolific oeuvre of oil paintings comprises of large canvases.  replete with vibrant colours and intricate detailing, creating conceptually intense, complex spaces, delving into the tech-driven tableau of contemporary living. The quickness of execution belie the layering of pigment, which he has demonstrated in live performances.

 

Kavas Kapadia creates delightful cameos of everyday life that display refreshing candour. Painted in water colour, not an easy medium to work with as it allows no corrections, Kapadia utilizes the element of spontaneity to draw out the allure of the subjects.

 

Ramakrishna Vedala paints in oils and water colours, portraying relationships and situations of humans and nature. The poetic painting of his mother, displayed in this exhibition, is rendered in water colours, the medium drawing out the spirituality and gentleness of her essence through moist, pigment soaked applications of the brush.

 

Prabir Purkyastha’s visions are phantasmagorical journeys to a wonderland, which surprisingly is very much our own planet. His creative impulses have taken him to various locations in India, particularly Ladakh, as well as all over the globe, to enshrine ethereal perspectives of landscapes in his photographs.

 

Naoyuki Ishiga works in the medium of kiri-e or paper-cuts. Drawing on nature for his inspiration and the sights and experiences that have remained with him since his childhood, he translates his perceptions into highly intricate and delicate paper cuts, which display the fineness of lace. Further combination of the play of light, imparts radiance and enhances the gossamer quality of Ishiga’s compositions.

 

Yours truly’s expression has leapfrogged and aged a decade, with the passing away of her mother and preceding painful months. Covid-19 struck immediately after, mocking personal pain versus that of collective humanity. Taking birth is exploration of the matrix of the metaphysical, an accepting yet assertive exploration of the transient nature of being.

 

Anu Jindal

Curator – Urmila – Enchanted Mother