ROOTED | India
What keeps you ‘rooted’ in the midst of challenges?
The virtual exhibition is an attempt to understand what gives us strength and resilience in face of difficult circumstances that the last years of the pandemic brought. As we continue to recover from the prolonged battle against Covid-19 and challenges even beyond the virus, we pause to reflect, through Art, on all that helps us. Asking what guides us and gives us strength in face of challenges. Like a tree is only as strong as its roots; sixty one artists explore the idea being ‘Rooted’.
This exhibition as part of a collaboration between Art for Change Foundation and Greenly Art Space, California, fosters the friendship of the two organisations along parallel visions to bring artists together to positively shape society through their lives and artwork. Visit the Greenly Exhibition here.
Art is what keeps me rooted in difficult times. As clichéd as it sounds coming from an artist. For an introvert like me art is the only way I express myself freely and in the most complete sense. Through my art work I talk about the social issues and realities of a democracy through a citizens eyes.
This series is based on socio political and daily life observations. Today we find ourselves in a state of constant despair with a falling economy and a so called democracy which may or may not be working for the benefit of the common man to be specific for the middle class or below poverty line people of our country. My work is symbolic in nature. Teapot being symbolic of elitism or the elite class and the ruling political party. As even in history we see the kettle or tea pot being used by the kings and elite class. Every cutlery is symbolic of human beings of different class of our society. Representing the elite class, the middle class, lower middle class, the below poverty line people.
Self-expression through art is what keeps me going. Raising a voice and sending a message through art is what keeps me rooted in difficult times.
I am a nature lover from the very beginning of my life. I love to paint it and capture everything possible in my way on the canvas. It was very difficult for me at first when the pandemic hit. I was unable to go out; feel the grass and fresh air. My home is not a big space and we do not have many plants in our building. My favourite spot before corona was the bank of river yamuna near my area where I usually did my paintings. When I couldn't get there, I tried to remember the details of the place and essence of it, which I have tried to capture in my painting; where I am standing with the easel painting near the river. Also it was that time of the year where I thought a lot about everything because there was nothing much to do. I spent a great time with my family which I hadn't done earlier. This was also something I cherish from these times. So in all, to re live my favourite moments, staying positive, my family and enjoying my thinking process is what kept me rooted in difficult times.
1st work: ‘Prickly Beauties’, Watercolour
Cacti are stunning plants with their sizes, forms, shades of green, and the occasional flowers. They grow without much care yet thrive in the cold and heat.
The cacti on my terrace are where I go when I'm tired or unhappy. Touching them would give me a jolt because of the thorns. But it made me realize that happier times would always come and I just had to be patient. Despite the thorns, I think cacti are fascinating and pleasing to the eye. And it is this fact that keeps me rooted during difficult times.
My deep rooted anxiety and the endless path of discovering myself help me to underpin my works. My works also display the intimate relationships. They focus on the issues which I have come across since my childhood. Society has always been the major concern in my art works. The moment I realized myself as belonging to a marginalized community evoke me to portray the social tensions.
I am mainly a print making artist and my major works are in etching and woodcut. I also have a huge collection of my drawings.
Albert Inkweaver Tungdim
'Extraordinarily normal beings'.
This painting is about mother nature as a mystical being taking different forms but all together as one fierce creature as how the world should be together despite our differences in colors, religions, gender etc. to survive the pandemic and all that is happening in this world today. Also how the covid19 virus brought us all together as a great human race fighting side by side daily. During lockdown I had all the time I had to turn to nature to inspire me thus I usually find myself running to the hills nearby my place any chance I got away from crowds. I had time to think, paint and to be myself.The hills had a lot to offer and Kept me healthy both physically and mentally by giving me a place to hike; foraging for edible plants and herbs and plant trees whenever I get a chance. I'm blessed to have found a chance to see mother nature in a different way during this pandemic. Nature is formidable, frightening but never evil.thus kept me Rooted.
Alka Chadha Harpalani
‘I'm rooted’, Mixed media, Size: 16"x16", 2021
'Lockdown’ had been a substitute world of artists, where personalized expression opened a doorway to impulse and imagery. Creativity remained un-quarantined and kept artist's spirits afloat; full of beauty, tranquility, simplicity, awe, spirituality, anxiety, explorations and experimentations where the reality of the world lay far behind the veil of colours and expressions. ‘I'm rooted yet I flow' is a way of finding one's wings in the world of confinemwnt and chaos. Alka Chadha Harpalani is an artist from Bangalore and her works are like a pictorial diary, in a way, where multiple layers of effects add more meaning to her observation, a representation to integrate personal sensations of ‘Togetherness’, with the two hands gripping each other. The page of poetry is supporting in creating visual variety. Her thoughts are impregnated with coloured profundity of space enriched with feelings. Her art is an amalgamation of images, textures and calligraphy that acts as a design in background.
‘Living in here’ is a series of 3 artworks depicting change made through the years of Covid 19. The beginning, ‘A Busy Bee’ alludes to the individuality of being ins a world where one had to interact with various people and hobbies which existed away from home. The embankment of individuality on a daily bases, with multiple pursuits whether it be practicing an instrument, resting, congregating or simply being the queen bee in and outside of a home. As news and severity of the pandemic ‘Taketh Away’ describes the speed, shock and emergent consequences that were being shoulders by the world. A virus, not seen, engulfing individuals, barely allowing for a safe space to be created. The urgency to move or change in the current situation not knowing if or when you or someone close would get infected; only ensuring a clear head to arrive or depart to where one felt the safest.
Lastly; A Sense of Destiny’ is as different and detailed because of the varied solutions and ideologies which created a longing for exploration within. Destined to live through the pandemic, a size of which we only read in history book. ‘rooted’ as an exhibition asks a poignant question on what makes us feel rooted as schedules, plans, family etc have uprooted stead-fast. This artwork closes in on the reliability of trust on self and those around you, to be conscious and obedient in enlightened yet dangerous world.
To be ‘Rooted’ after years of unrooting celebrated the hope of a better harvest tomorrow. This ‘living’ series embraces the storm and it’s destruction. The use of graphite, a simple medium reflects the simplicity of being rooted and it symbolically alludes to the myriads of difficulties reflecting the complexity, one had to had to endure through the pandemic .
I have been always fascinated by the play of linearity and its rhythm in imagery where my attempt has been to introduce the same in my compositional space. I have been consciously trying to amalgamate the Indian and Western approach to form and space. My works are informed by an inquiry of the human body and its transition, both literally and metaphorically. It is all about a chaos in my mind regarding the whole around me, a slow process to understand these every incident and my depiction is to convey this though my works and it goes sometime symbolic and sometime abstract, just trying to depict that understanding of frustration, anger. I have mostly used rich color to express my vision into something that is easy and lucid, something that is not perfect, and something that is not precise, but just an emotion.
‘Caught in the Act’
A lot of my work revolves around observation and documentation, even if it’s finding humour in shitty situations. The simple act of journalling these instances kept me rooted. It came with a broader understanding that time doesn’t have to be filled with big events. I kept an eye out on the natural world, even if it is just outside my window and balcony. Paying attention to these micro events gave me a sense of wonder and fulfillment.
Floating Structures
Floating Structures is an artwork that I worked on during the lockdown in 2020. I have spent many moments contemplating life while observing my surroundings, the work has facets and fragments of buildings around me in Delhi.
The painting represents a larger theme in my life, one of trying to stay grounded despite the transient nature of our thoughts. The mind has complete command over our experience of life yet the larger than life structures around us have a solid reassuring quality. These moments can be meditative enough to make heavy bodies feel buoyant and even reduce them to transparency. I have tried to explore on canvas this shifting nature of consciousness based on my experience of the pandemic, finding rootedness in urban life.
Avneet Chawla
This Side - III, Acrylic on Canvas, 54”x 20”
“In most cases, our so-called limitations are nothing more than our own decision to limit ourselves”. –Dr Diaseku Ikeda
If I wasn’t an artist, the battle against this pandemic would have been even fierce. During this lockdown I realised I had a lot of time to take the journey inwards. I started to meditate post my chanting. The peace amidst this havoc was my primary concern. The more I was rooted, the better I felt and even better was my work. Textured dots is my style and there was this beautiful shift to the color white from black, sometimes even combining both. As meditative my state of mind, it completely reflected in my works, a ‘Visual Relief’ as I prefer calling them.
‘ezhuth’, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 96”
The works titled ezhuthu and Coalescence series are drawn from the experience of Sahavarthithvam (togetherness). The selection and deselection, arrangements, and rearrangements in the works follow Sahabhavana. The creatures from the animal world like elephant, parrot, dragonfly, butterfly, kite bird and rooster from the domestic life in his homeland Kasargod are in ‘togetherness’ with the Hoysala design references. The alphabets, numbers, and decoratives create hybrid experiences. All these are added with Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's two stories. The short story Bhoomiyude Avaksikal which tries to ‘hug this world’ and another short story that has no full stops titled Anaswara Premam look at the infinite world. Both stories become an index for his artworks. The world of knowledge for Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was the mixture of imagination and experience, sound and silence and light and dark. In his works, Balagopalan portrays the life of creatures in the anthropocentric universe. The thoughts of Maitri with nature is evolving an eco aesthetics in ezhuthu.
Sketches on Toned Paper
What keeps you rooted in difficult times? This question allows one to reflect and ponder. And I am sure everyone has an answer if one chooses to spend a little time to think of how delicate life is, especially when hit by tragedy. Dealing with loss is one thing but knowing that everyone’s life is also at risk is emotionally and mentally stressful. Apart from making sure our loved ones are safe I turn to my art to give me some kind of perspective on how to navigate through this pandemic. Every opportunity I have I make sure to document something about the day in the form of drawings and illustrations. By doing this I am able to channelized stress and anxiety into my work. Many of my works are inspired by happenings and stories about how people are trying to pull through this situation. Everyone’s struggle is real which perhaps needs to be recorded.
Cathy Weiss
‘Asherah, Tree Goddess, Mother of all Gods’, 40”x96”x10”. Woodcut print, inkjet, stencil, dye, wood structure, scroll, 2021
Thinking about the strength of the women whose shoulders we stand on keeps me rooted. This work is about the Warrior Women who stand behind us, who helped us become who we are. I use symbolism such as the number three which is in her roots and braids. Her wings and hair are of the Phoenix, home is represented by the stork and keys and the bones our ancestors. Collected stories by women on women who are Warrior Women are told using a scroll, symbol of life and time. The scroll is a living document.
Silver Ring
During the lockdowns I’ve spent a lot of time silversmithing. This allowed me to bridge the time of the pandemic by developing a new skill and creating something with intention. My work is mostly inspired by nature: its organic shapes, patterns and details. Combining those with metal is what interests me most. How can I recreate textures of stones, plants or even landscapes through metal? While engaging in those material explorations, I like working with my hands and using fire to melt an idea into something that can be used as an everyday object. A piece which then again reminds me of its (and my) rootedness in nature.
‘Mara’s Hope Fulfilled’, Oil and Gold Leaf on Canvas
A friend of mine declared, “there is no god for women!” From the ancient curse in the Garden sited in Genesis 3, through my own story (journaled beneath the painting), to today as we watch Afghani women and girls being captured and enslaved; history resounds with this doubt. However, the roots of Jesus’s family tree, seen through the lives of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary, place a spotlight on the oppression toward women and illuminates God’s consistent watchfulness, justice and redemption that brings healing to all nations.
Left to Right: ‘Roots’, ‘End of World Curtain’, ‘Aftergrief’, ‘Kintsugimoon:Lostthings’, ‘Levi Life and Afterlife’, ‘Brother’, ‘Mustard Seed’, ‘Never the Same’
Rooted doesn’t mean unchanging. There is a stability from rootedness, from an understanding of the past and a safety in relationship. A rooted tree still grows; it bears fruit, it blooms. The roots grow deeper into the soil, a soil made up of communal loss and death, among other things. These months of turmoil have tested my root system; digging deeply into my stable, trusting relationships from previous years, including my spiritual relationship with Christ, helped me move forward through the questions of existence, control and identity, and find old and new answers, as well as come to peace with the ambiguities. These works are part of an online artistic conversation with friends in different cities, using collaged elements (physical and conceptual) collected in these and other interactions.
Filomina Pawar
I came into the art field because of my late Belgian artist partner, Eric G. C. Weets. He passed away in 2018. He was an asthmatic patient even before we met. It gradually developed into COPD and for the last 10 years of his life, Eric was put on 24 hours supplemental oxygen therapy at home. I was looking after him. During these difficult times, it was mostly art, Eric's and mine, the talks we would have about art, philosophy, artists and their biographies etc, kept us sane. I wouldn't have been able to live normal, dealing with pain and suffering, day in and day out for more than 10 years of my life. Art gave me strength and a way to escape from the painful reality of my life, go into my world and get engrossed in it for hours. The colors evoke emotions, the forms explore the unknown. Unfathomable terrains are revealed as I work with the images to come to an end result, which satisfies my being. I am so engrossed in composing, that time just flies.
Thereafter, I suffered a mental breakdown due to excessive stress disorder and had to be hospitalized for few day and couple of years later I again suffered the same situation. Besides medicines, art works as therapy for me. Covid related lockdown didn't affect me much, because I was already home bound for years before Covid.
I am an artist and art is my life. So my art has kept me rooted through these difficult times. Art is something that will keep me rooted in the coming future, no matter what.
I am fascinated with roots and their resemblance to neural connections in our brains. Making a correlation to our mental health, so much of our coping with and overcoming adverse conditions in life has to do with cultivating strong root systems. Though the environment above ground may be harsh and present many challenges, it is the world below the surface that makes the difference. Such threats as strangling weeds, rocky ground, and harsh winds can be overcome by a thought life well rooted in healthy, life-giving rhythms which encourage our growth in resilience and stability.
Fr. K. M. George
Purusha and Prakriti . Acrylic on canvas board, 60x40 cms
This symbolic work portrays a farmer couple, obviously sad and supporting each other. The man’s beard is extended to become a granary containing seeds of grain. The woman’s shawl is stretched to become a uterus in which seeds sprout. Although they are outwardly sad and tired, they carry internally the seeds of hope for the future. They are rooted on earth and they also open a hopeful future as symbolised by the wheat plants and saplings which provide life for all human beings. The extended farmland is the background. The predicament of the farmers is also hinted at. Purusha and Prakriti are the ancient Indian philosophical terms representing the universal male principle and the universal female principle. In the middle there is Ashoka Chakra, the compassionate wheel of Dharma, encircled by barbed wires.
In these hard times, in the lockdown what has really kept me rooted are, my immediate surroundings, my home, my studio. My everyday walk to my studio, talking to every plant, the food we ate, the food we wasted, the dog that came on the way. The road that I took to my studio has become my journey, my journey to reach somewhere (studio) where I will be closer to where I actually want to be. That road has taught me so much. Those broken, fragmented and fractured roads with digs remaining static every day, what changed was the course of gravel in them, fallen leaves, petals in them. Where everything was changing so rapidly what not changed was my road, my path, that manmade yet natural perforation, which lead to my series called Roadscapes. Everything is beneath that road, the roots, our earth, our water. Those roads say so much.
Janis J Lindley
Artist Statement | Cancer Story
I love the symbolic imagery of roots. Could be tree roots sunk deep in rich soil and rock, could be plant roots covered and sustained by the living water of Jesus or could be celestial roots as seen in a night sky of the heavens. All are beautiful organic shapes that are held in place by something lasting, supportive, foundational and eternal. I have chosen to paint a night sky because over the past six weeks I have enjoyed a nightly display of beauty rooted in the truth that God's creation is beyond amazing and imaginative and His love for me is deeper and more profound than I could have ever imagined.
It all started on July 24th, 2021 at breakfast with my daughter and our husbands - as I started speaking in gibberish. My daughter, who is a nurse practitioner, quickly called 911 - thinking I was having a stroke. The EMT team sent me to a nearby hospital for testing. After two MRI's it was determined that I had two brain tumors and needed to have immediate surgery on the bigger one the next morning. The surgery was a success and now I am undergoing targeted radiation on both the surgery site and the tumor that has not been surgically removed. I am on several medications but the most difficult one is steroids which has given me "Moon Face" - so I have painted my face from a selfie as the woman on the moon.
God has been a constant root of love, hope, protection and provision during this time. I begin aggressive treatments in a week for the metastasized breast cancer that has gone to my brain and actually began growing while living in Delhi.
‘Freedom - Art of Caring’, Watercolor on Paper, 29.7 x 42.1 cms.
This strangely freezing morning in September oddly fills me with warm thoughts on my latest work of art in water colour, “Freedom – Art of Caring.” I fondly recall that it was the warmth of unassuming sense of “caring for the other” which conserved my life “rooted” – rooted to the favourite grounds. It was easy all through, to pick lessons from Mother Nature and human life around in all freedom with positive vibes of “being related”. The “relatedness” kept lives rooted throughout these difficult times brought about by the raging pandemic. My work of art inculcates elements and genres from a handful of tribal arts, viz., Gond, Santhal and Warli together with Madhubani art. This is because I count on tribal art as “art that relates and heals.” May the cocoons of meditation realize themselves as nests for caring and healing as these tiring times desperately yearn for them.
’The Observer’, Acrylic on canvas, 5ft×4ft
I think the best gift that nature gives us, is the imagination. This single tool has been solving all our problems since the beginning. And there is no exception in this context.
I believe that the best way to face a difficult situation is to create a different space, far away from the situation, to stand. That creates a completely different perspective to look at the same situation. And then the difficult chess-board becomes an allegory, that helps us understand the situation better. This opens up opportunities to learn from that situation and gives enough courage to stand straight . This allegorical view of reality has always been the inspiration for my work.
Practicing art or doing artworks provides me peace of mind. In this difficult times where everyone is overwhelmed with chaos and emotions, situations that we all have been through.
It's my art that always holding me up. I felt art is part of me that comes from heart. Whatever I feel or experience, I started to scribble whenever I found myself anxious angry or depressed. Last few weeks I only have done scribbling. Hold strokes bold line. Then I found and started creating some figures in it. Mostly birds. And wire. I have created many artworks, mostly done in my diary. I kept diary with me while away from my studio. Art is reflection of our society. So art effectively also reflects my mind and thoughts. What we experienced in these different difficult times.
‘Sacred trash’, Oil on canvas, 120cm×96cm
It happened thus when I was prompted to do a work of art based on the people in the “peripheries” whom I met and interacted with. They were cobblers and rag-pickers. I found them struggling for survival these difficult times. There is no exaggeration when I state that their existence is in “oblivion”. In the meantime, what strikes me is the verity that many of them are content to some extent concerning their survival, tough though. Their relatedness among themselves is remarkable. Ironically, people in urban circles (depicted in the background of the work of art) are not deemed to be so much related each other as these people in the peripheries.
Use of dull colours in the work of art is to symbolize the dire circumstances. The child holding a purple balloon signifies innocence and hope. Green skin tone signifies liveliness and positive vibes even amidst poverty and struggles for survival. Blue saree of the elderly woman in the middle represents value of motherhood. This speaks also of my personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is relationship which keeps us rooted through these difficult times. The struggle is for “one’s existence in the present.”
The Pandemic has been a rollercoaster ride and a sea of emotions for all of us. Between the inner conundrums and the virus lurking everywhere lies a path of choice making and inner strength. In my artworks, I depict the first touch, sight and smell of earth I felt after the lockdown was lifted in New Delhi and emotions that constantly kept surfacing through as I went on daily leisure walks. I’d often think to myself how nature has a way of accurately mirroring what’s in the mind. How unconscious thought becomes conscious, just like the flora surrounding me.
‘Tree-t yourself!’, Acrylic on Fabriano Paper, 24” x 34”
The stormy winds of Novel- Coronavirus ushered the entire world in a state of caution, fear and even panic. There is no denying that the uncertainty of this situation is both challenging and stressful. As a tiny dust particle in this enormous universe, the magnetic nature helped me stay grounded during these anxious times. Witnessing the rising sun, listening to melodic bird songs, watching clouds and leaves dance to the tune of cold breeze...nourished my senses. I was able to connect with myself and the world even better.
They say,“nature makes your heart gentle and you become one with it”...and frankly, I couldn’t agree more.
Cobalt is a gravity-held construction of driftwood sourced from a lake where I live. The wood floated downriver after a dam opened to mitigate flood hazards during a season of heavy rains. I started collecting before the COVID pandemic, paddling a small boat around the cove, salvaging one or two logs at a time. For weeks, during the global lockdown, I worked on the sculpture. It was difficult – paddling, hefting, sawing, painting, climbing the steep hillside – often in extreme heat. My vision for Cobalt was the energy that powered me, navigating each stretch with eyes focused on the goal.
‘Meenakshi Vijay’, Size: 14"×22", Mixed media on paper.
In life, a person will go through many memorable experiences, some positive and others, which though negative, may have given one essential knowledge. These positive emotions, beliefs and life lessons are stored in the essence of the person. During trying times, it is these memories that serve as a base or a source of energy to help one move forward, knowing that times will change for the better someday. It is the 'brightness ' of hope, dreams and happiness that is in one's heart, that keeps one 'rooted'.
‘Eternal Bliss’, Acrylic on Linen, 91.4 cm x 61 cm
As the world looks for vaccines and medicines for the Coronavirus, I seek comfort through spiritual expression, building an immune cocoon through art. Within the chrysalis the mind grows, the soul finds direction, as the recluse of quarantine gives an opportunity to develop undistracted...hope keeps me going and art strengthens the immunity of the mind.
‘Eternal bliss’ is part of a series of abstract geometry works created during the lockdown. The theme of my series has been focusing on one’s inner strength and finding the light within.
It is the 130th work in the series.
Collages and Digital Animation
In a self directed approach I have found myself embracing generative design processes. My personal art work which is evolving daily is based on my relationship with either digital tools or my hands, working on chance and accidents, juxtaposition and contrast of formal or design elements. Influenced by nature and technology and architecture, I am inspired by the Bauhaus and Suprematism.
My hyper/ normal series is an exploration in this theme of fragmented fictions. My analogue collage art work also searches for this contrast between forms but by using purely recycled material as texture and select images and texts, to create a broken narrative. Analog art practice is very important to me as well as my digital art making. I thrive on the immediacy and the imperfection of analog as well as the thought out methodical controlled chaos of digital; which I try to bring to my work.
Of late, things haven't been quite great with the current pandemic scenario trespassing our lives. It definitely has affected each one of us tremendously in some way or other-be it mental health, economic crises or health complications. But the one thing that instilled power and positive energy within me, was the connection with Almighty. While most of us seemed to be anxious and agitated, just a few chants of Om helped me ward off the negativity. It aided me in channeling my spirit towards solace and held me from going off the track, thus keeping my soul calmed down.
As an Art practitioner I’ve always been interested in reciprocating the chores of daily life in my paintings or my thoughts that wander in my illusionistic mind. Simplicity of form and vibrant colors are my analogues in a painting. Completing three years of my professional built up; I’ve consumed most of my time at home due to the ongoing pandemic. Hence you’ll see a combination of my beliefs, style and struggle in one frame. My compositions however are an escape from this allegory, where I’ve finally found charm in nature and tried to study and represent the same. Ive also tried to capture scenes that i found peaceful and lively. Paintings bring ease and calm in my life through which I extrapolating my thoughts on to canvas and contemplate with free mind. This also makes me feel extremely proud in the mediocrity of my thoughts.
Hence my paintings, optimistic approach towards daily chores of life and spending time with nature keeps me rooted in difficult times.
Ongkie Tan
I was born and raised in Borneo, Indonesia in a Chinese family with 9 siblings - I am number 10. I spent 20 years in Los Angeles then 10 years in India - where I am currently living. All of these created footprints into my arts.
From Indonesia, I picked up tattoo art - the life in forest. From my family I inherited the YinYan and discipline. The U.S. gave me the confidence to be myself - and to not be afraid to be different and accept my dark side. Having so many siblings taught me to be tough and keep a free spirit. We were free to go to school or not. I remember, I started drawing at a very young age on the ground. These still keep me rooted.
Osheen Suri
The work touches upon the idea of existence, how one is emerging from the other, taking forms, coming into existence by repeating the same yet unique action over and over again, and how it creates a whole new meaning. We often also see the human mind functioning in a repetitive manner. I am interested in exploring more about the different aspects of such artistic layers and how it creates a “belief” or an
“Identity” within us. And I also try to understand the human construct where throughout life, many patterns have been built up, where there are many layers, layers of repressed emotions, feelings, expressions that work as an underlying current in our behavior about which we always remain unknown to it. Such observations about the very “life” and “existence” are the basis for my practice. Where I do introspection to question the make-belief world, that we make through repetitive thoughts, emotions, and action, which keeps us far away from reality. And I try to decipher what awareness is, how much it is important to overcome this stagnant state of being, as it directs us towards the “flow”.
My practice is more about a process where I try to incorporate these aspects with a minimal approach, where the work gradually takes the form with every repetitive action just as it happens in nature and it becomes quite meditative when it is consciously done.
Peter Bakelaar
My Compass.
Direction is Crucial. Times of uncertainty and change make me anxious. I am a worrier. In situations where I lack control and have insufficient knowledge or inability, my thoughts go in every direction. I used to pray when I got up in the morning, “Please Lord, help understand everything that is going to come my way today.” I realized I was asking for something that will only be fulfilled after this life. Now I pray for faith to trust and obey. My compass is Jesus. He is the truth I depend on to keep me rooted in this life in a healthy direction.
“EK BADI ABADI KI SACHAI”| REALITY OF A SIGNIFICANT BIG POPULATION)
Pandemic has affected everyone in some way or other. But the one most affected population was migrant workers. We all have seen Visuals of walking migrants along with their child and luggage from one corner to another part of country on their foot. Many completed their long journey and many not. Many lost their lives due to long walking; many lost their lives on railway track. Those visual haunted whole country and shows the betray of capitalism which do not provide shelters and food in pandemic times.
My artworks “EK BADI ABADI KI SACHAI” is reflection of that devastating situation rather than reaction which focus on the root cause failure of our system who didn’t provide a basic care facility who have helped in making of economic centric city.
Priti Tamot
The unprecedented times brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic have forced me to confront both my own and that of my loved ones. As an artist creativity is in my very nature and thus in the most trying of times, I found solace in the deepest crevices of my imagination. Furthermore, my personal faith in the laws of nature and the cyclical nature of life have been another source of reassurance to me. For me the image of a small temple atop of a big hill signifies mankind's gratitude towards God.
My crisis began even before the pandemic happened. I hadn't touched a brush for months and now, news of people dying flooded my news feed. Soon there were literal floods, bushfires, and oil spills. My anxiety was spiraling while nature was hurting. I had to address my nerves. So I read to learn more about it. The paintbrush could wait. However, while learning I got fascinated with the details of nature, its building blocks, the structure and functioning of microorganisms. Soon, my fascination needed an outlet, and that got me to pick the brush again.
If you want to successful in this world you have to go step by step.I have tried to convey this thought through my work.Here I saw how it was slowly moving from darkness.That is why no matter how many difficulties come,if you work patiently devotion,success will come one day.
Nature has never seized to fascinate me but my perception changed over the years as my appreciation towards things we coexist with grew by being more "Art Alert" . My latest works are a reflection of my engagement with the organic forms around and our relationship with them . I guess that's what is conscious living wherein the smallest of things fills us with gratitude and instead of complaining we begin to bloom where we are planted! Here are mixed media studies on paper used to depict the nature's palette. These artwork bring a visual symphony.
Meghalaya Calendar 2020
Hours, days, weeks and months has become so irrelevant during these lockdown season. Is our days mark with dates and months or with this seasonal lockdown? Considering the calendar that still hang on the wall at home, I question myself, ‘have I forgotten to look at it? Or should I even bother looking at it?’. In this series of collage I took different images from the Meghalaya calendar 2020, interestingly are paintings of various artists of Meghalaya, arranging and connecting them in connection with the current situation of this lockdown, specifically in Meghalaya. I wanted to remember this period maybe not by dates but by images.
Collective endeavour
The artworks reflect upon the collective struggle and fight to maintain ones sanity and livelihood.The last two years have been testing times for humanity at large, the pandemic and its aftermath has spared no one. What keeps one rooted is the realisation ,that life is fragile and unpredictable. The love and support of family , friends and fellow human beings is what kept us going in those difficult times.
As long as we support each other in the struggle, as long as we help each other cope with our losses , we can tide over turbulent times.
‘The Thread of Coexistence’, ‘Rhythm’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
What keeps me ‘rooted’ in difficult times has always been my deep desire to stay close to ‘mother nature’ and ‘ Art’
This translates into the life I lead into lovely ,long walks spent gazing at flora and possible fauna :), yoga, the food that I eat and flows into the art that I create as an artist.
In addition to these two primary sources of strength are other simple joys and comforts of life like quality time spent with family and like-minded folks, time spent reading books, listening to music, a good, wholesome meal and a healthy dose of the internet. :)
‘Together’, Digital
The initial few days of the pandemic were a mix of anxiety, fear and loneliness. I was far from the one person who is central to my life and the visuals from across the world of the effects of the pandemic were overwhelming. Amidst rumours of a lockdown I decided to pack my bags and travel back home to regain the centre of my being. This feeling of being together and weather this rough time kept me rooted, centered and alive.
For me it’s possibilities, a change cf something good happening...doesn’t matter when or where , but I always try to do good things, and wait for good things to happen. Like eagerly waiting for festivals, family gatherings, birthdays, celebrations, exhibitions, outings etc. Looking at whats to come, the new things and opportunities makes me rooted in difficult times, as I always wants to grow, travel and celebrate every inch of life path.
Sarah P. Jose
To keep the waves of overwhelm at bay during India’s dreadful second wave of Covid, I took a simple and generative step by preparing watercolor paper. First, numerous tears covered the page. The three radiating layers represent the different layers of complex and compound grief. As I painted my honest lament onto paper, I realized our tears and grief are sinking deep into the soil of India, providing a new sense of ownership and care. God transforms our sorrow into fertilizer, enabling a strong root system. “Roots” provides an example of how lament transforms grief into substantial hope.
‘Full Moon’, 28 x 22 inches, Oil on Canvas
It was a beautiful night, everything was perfect, the moon was a full circle, meddling with the clouds. But things were not as they seemed to be. The light from the full moon unveiled sad feelings that were hiding in the dark, and the night became a melancholic poem. What held me together in that moment was nothing but love. The feeling, or even just a faint memory of the feeling, is enough to invade all melancholic territory, and turn it into a smiling nostalgia. Love is what keeps me going, keeps me together.
‘Everyday Me S-M-I-L-E series’, Drawings 2021
This series of drawings which was done recently, is part of a project ‘Everyday Me’ started back in 2019. The self-portraits done in ink on paper are continuous shots of me in an act of laughing. In the process, these drawings have been superimposed with spontaneous thought processes using texts and images, drawing, and collage. With the years of pandemic, the connection with a laughing face seemed odd. I had distanced myself from this work but over time, adjusting with the reality, seeing the things beyond the present, experiencing life brought me close to this piece again.
Thinking about what keeps me rooted in difficult times, I can say, I come back to myself, introspect, there is always an answer within. Practicing art in general, and especially with this work, by scribbling the words and freezing the moment, the cathartic experience seems complete.
‘5 am’, Oil on Canvas, 20x30 inch
It’s 5am. I get up and get ready for another beautiful day. I stare at the Dot which I've stuck onto the wall of my house. I stare at it. Stare at it as if that’s the only thing I’ve at that moment. It helped me bring back all the deep down energies which were buried inside me. What kept me rooted was the sound of my inner self wanting to get discovered. The search for finding the source was increasing day by day. As everything was coming into a standstill around me, the only thing that was in constant flux were my thoughts. I wanted to shape them. I wanted to have control over them. It was then, when I decided to increase my focus and awareness. Till now, I continue to delve deeper. I make sure I’m aware of my surroundings and don’t lose touch with my roots. My approach for life had turned towards inner self rather than peeking towards outside. To take life as it is, it’s essential to look within and grow from it.
Late in 2019, I started developing my art language and my concern was about stabilizing the imbalanced conscious and subconscious states of my mind through the repetition of a pattern. The process allowed me to continuously focus on a single line at a time which when continued for long, resulted in a meditative state. Working with recycling paper in different textures, has brought fragile yet belligerent aspect into the process which further depicts that on the border of breakdown, getting a hold of consciousness can save my sanity to some extent during this worldwide pandemic.
Surabhi
My work depicts my existence and how I deaI with it. I work in multiple media, in various methods. Artworks explore how I experience extension and transformations in material and subjective terms. I tried to explore the interplay between my past and present memories. How the memories are related to me and have moulded the present in which we exist. It is a very personal journey, autobiographical and in the sense of self- portrait, albeit of the incidents that have experience in my surroundings, the stratum continues to affect day to day life. I work by setting up some situations and memorable arbitrations in the lives —from roots to self, from architecture to people.
Suryasnata Mohanty
‘TRANSIENCE’, Acrylic on Canvas, 36”x48”
To undergo what comes our way is a personal mode of transaction with situation and time. A collective experience of suffering can create a sense of community for communicative existence, but dealing with difficult times is essentially a personal narrative of reconciliation with self. That the essence of time lies in transience creates a space for dialogue with self and others, to be able to see glows of hope in order to make sense of and negotiate with gloom. My work Transience invites the viewer to the world of hope and steadfastness of faith in dark times, in narrating that gloom is a layer of patches to be lived through and surpassed.
‘Red moon’, Mix Media on Canvas, 3’x3’
In this difficult time of pandemic my passion for painting kept me rooted, kept me busy, happy and engaged. I used to paint almost everyday.I feel like meditating at the time of doing painting.Between the process I almost feel lost within me leaving the world aside.Every moment of this creative process I enjoy inner peace and happiness. I utilised this pandemic time very positively. My passion for painting kept me alive in this pandemic time.
Mundane Gloom
It is sometimes very easy to spot somebody's pain and miss out on their backyard peace. Also true is the other way round. Easy to see through their peace but miss out on pain. My artwork presents a confluence of pain & peace. This pandemic has taught us a lot, a small bit of which I have tried to exhibit through my artwork.
In all these visuals, the feeling of loneliness & gloom is constant. The ambience in the artwork is so serene yet constitutes eternal emptiness. The urge to escape this feeling of emptiness showcased in my artwork reflects the covid-19 reality.
‘Diaspora’ is an expression to look within the religious aspect to understand a liberation beyond it. Through this painting, the artist here looks out for identity, religion, liberation and homeland. He seeks to find the answer in the realm of time where we lay submerge in the womb of our mother and start to learn through our subconscious mind. A liberation that we seek from our mother, starting from her womb. For him, just like the obscure depiction of Buddhist’s wall painting in the background, religion plays a secondary role towards a liberated life.
‘Let It Flow’, 40" x 30", Acrylic paint, gold mixed mediums on canvas
“Let there be no boundaries. When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish. Lose yourself completely, return to the root of the root of your own soul” – Rumi
‘Let It Flow’ is the genesis of the long therapeutic process of finding myself in the pandemic madness around me. When words have failed, I have found expression in art. This is what has kept me “rooted” in these difficult times. The feel of a palette knife, the smell of paint and the sense of completely immersing myself in the comforts of Art, is what has got me through this grueling time.
Trishna Patnaik
'Unbounded' | The reason is to be Limitless more so in Difficult Times.
Just like how all of us struggle to remove the inner mental chatter which forms the garbage and pollution in our minds, the planet struggles with the garbage and plastic pollution scattered on it. The freedom from the same will benefit the planet and guess who resides on this planet? It is us! So why would we not want to be free from garbage? We have to clean up both the scatter and chatter which is external as well as internal. One idea: Start small and be consistent. Work on improvising things in and around your house, your area, your street, your locality and learn to expand from there.... This will make each one of us limitless and unbounded and will still remain work in progress for betterment making our planet a superb place to reside in! I am a fine artist, healer and art therapist based in Mumbai.
Tsetan Angmo
Through this illustration, I want to show the connection between spinning of a wool, its warps and weaves that turn into a fabric with that to giving birth to a life and staying rooted to our traditional culture. Today, we see this tradition as a declining art which also depicts the distance that has grown over the year with our ancestral past. It also shows the relationship between our tradition, modernisation and the essence to our life which has its roots ingrained in the past.
“My mother use to tell me how women were seen spinning in Leh market often. This tradition started to decline over the period of time. And this decline, moved me to work on this illustration”
Vanshita Arora
‘Pink astronaut’, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas and ‘Homemade Holiday’, 24" x 30", Acrylic on raw canvas
What keeps me rooted ? It's the tendency to separate these layered emotions and getting through every bit of it.
These works are inspired by the translucent layers of emotions that we keep on wearing one over another and somehow every layer is affected by the one lying down.
How the gradients of emotions play around in our head that we think justify a single feeling but the trapped thought, unanswered questions, pointless lines are all significant in describing that one single moment.
I have always been drawn to water. Sometimes I feel I have a deep connection with it and thus it is the key component in my works. Reflection in that, the love for inks, pigments and other similar material that loves to play alongside water are my go to tools.