When dreams manifest as art on canvas, they become reality. Nothing is impossible till artist Sujata Kar Saha has her trusted brushes in hand and a blank canvas in front of her eyes. Every tiny thought that germinates is given life through her strokes. This way she says, she can dream a new dream every day as each one is destined to become a reality through the vivid colours she uses on the canvas. Besides the deep pigments she applies, landscapes are a faithful companion in her visions. In her latest presentation too, they star as landmarks of an endless journey called Shifting Expression.
Based in Kolkata, 42-year-old Saha chose Delhi’s Triveni Kala Sangam to exhibit her seventh solo for a reason. Her paintings are in part, inspired by the landscape of Mandi House, in addition to many other landscape memories.
They are an abstract notion void of any replications of a particular region. “It may sound odd but the nature of land stands to me. Delhi has such an assorted landscape which is incomparable to any other. As if whispering to me saying it knows me well. Then I tap into my intuition and describe what I think it said,” says Saha, a Masters in Visual Art from Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta University.
The strokes in her oil works are free-flowing sans obstructive lines, but there is still an appearance that speaks of a ‘framed’ thought process. This tells us that her depictions are not random but purposeful. The shading is conscious and the texturing stands for something. “Does it affect you? Do you want to give it a closer look? Does it make you happy? If any, or all of these crossed your mind, I’ve succeeded,” she says, without breaking down the thought behind each one of them. “I cannot do that because I am not consciously thinking while painting. You cannot intellectualise art. Art is born in the heart and doesn’t have a fixed meaning,” says Saha.
The commencement and culmination of a piece hold little value for her. It’s when she is actively engrossed in the demonstration of emotion, does she feel content. “Magic happens. It’s surprising even for me. How something so meaningful can appear out of the hidden layers of being, is a miracle,” says the artist, who continues to harvest her many moods through the creation of these whimsical landscapes.
Abstract moods
Based in Kolkata, Saha, 42, chose Delhi’s Triveni Kala Sangam to exhibit her seventh solo for a reason. Her paintings are, in part, inspired by the landscape of Mandi House, in addition to many other landscape memories. They are an abstract notion void of any replications of a particular region.
Till: July 22
At: Triveni Kala Sangam