It’s the circle of light not just above his head that yoga guru and self-taught artist Bharat Thakur is trying to seek. He is also in the avid pursuit of capturing the light that all human beings emanate.
Aureola: The Colours You Are is all about rendering that light. The light is otherwise colourless but once refracted, you get all the gorgeous colours of vibgyor.
'“It’s the pure light that germinates from within,” he says. Through the exhibition, he also pays homage to Aghori babas (ascetic Shaiva sadhus) from whom he received his tutelage in his growing up years.
There seems to be stark ambiguity in his abstract works. There is no clear line of thought that emerges when you examine them, but Thakur differs. “What there is for sure is ambivalence and ambition,” he says.
Thakur’s Himalayan roots and his chosen path of spirituality have left a stamp of influence on his art. He has never paid heed to medium, material or matter. “I don’t want to define or describe myself. I find experience within an experiment and I am a thought that defies definition. For me the journey is more important than the end because I believe there is a method in my madness,” says Thakur, who never gives into the demands of emotions. “I like the walk, not the weight loss. When you walk, you leave a footprint and that is nothing but passage of emotions,” he says.
And just like that, he lets his words reflect through the notional forms of his work, opening his mind to new articulations.
On till October 24, from 11 am-7 pm, at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre.