Silence turns into a creative storm

Her paintings don’t know extremes.
Paradox of Silence.
Paradox of Silence.

Her paintings don’t know extremes. They express on the lines of balance and impartiality. As an artist, it’s not for Mona Rai to give into impulses. Spontaneous she may be, but never wimpy. She likes her practise to be deliberate, a slow process, just like it was with the large square canvas with dashes and dots, lines and layers at GAG Moderne’s group show titled, Paradox of Silence. 

As she stitches one thought with another, her brush moves through the coarse surface of the canvas like it knows its path. Many ideas take shape but very few are decipherable. “One goes through so much in life… pain and pleasure being at the apex of every experience. One doesn’t even rationalise what they’re actively holding on to unless it begins to pour through various forms on the canvas. It’s for you to find out what it says,” says Rai. 

Artist Mona Rai
Artist Mona Rai

The exhibition is being displayed at one of Delhi’s oldest galleries formerly called Gita Art Gallery that has now reopened as GAG Moderne at Sadhna Enclave. Paradox of Silence is its first show post reopening. It presents masters such as Rameshwar Broota, Manish Pushkale, Manu Parekh, Amitava Das, Shobha Broota, Hem Raj, among others. 

Finding herself among these stalwarts, Rai holds her own. Her individuality stands strong. In fact, after years of displaying at the likes of National Gallery of Modern Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, and others, she has found her hold among well-respected artists of the city. 

Her paintings in Paradox of Silence, evoke a tranquil quality, they’re in fact a riot of tumultuous emotions. “They’re by no means docile. Each one of them carries the burden of life and everything that I have felt,” says Rai who has been a lot of silver, gold and copper foil work in her paintings off late. Texturing remains her forte. Through the milestones achieved through each work, Rai has prepared a body of self-expression that challenges silence to stimulate her a storm. On view till March 31, from 11am-6.30pm, at GAG Moderne, 39, Corner Market, Panchsheel Park. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com