Artist Gunjan Tyagi’s new paintings have been inspired by the feelings of isolation, confusion, boredom and the ongoing pandemic. By Team Viva
While the world experiences strife through islolation, boredom, panic and uncertainty, yet, for those, who pick up a paint brush or pen in response to the disease, their role as a change-maker in society becomes very important. It has been rightly said that art and creativity in the time of a pandemic is more crucial than ever! Going by the references and examples of art from the time of the great Plague, poet Richard Kenney said that the Plague had changed the imagination of the West. It changed every culture that is passed through. Well, that’s what a creative piece of artwork does. For future generations, it stands as an evidence that this happened.
Marking 2020 in history, Delhi-based artist Gunjan Tyagi creates three ‘paintings on COVID-19’ that aim to reflect the current relationship between humans and nature, and their battle with the Coronavirus pandemic.
The first, Prerequisite, as she explains, finds meaning in the touch of a human — which has currently gone missing. The work is a spin on Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. Talking about how she made it, she earlier recalled about how she recently made New York her home and that she found the city’s energy and vibrance “truly stimulating.” However, after a pandemic at hand, she added, “I found myself confined to my studio. I started re-focussing my energies on painting. But, true to contemporary anxieties, we see that both god and humans are wearing hand gloves!”
The painting showcases two gloved hands not being to able to touch each other. She says, “The creation of Adam is one of the most powerful, intimate and awe-inspiring pieces of art. Touch being the most significant act here, which is untouched. Yet, it portrays that the spark exists, even though we can’t see it, just like the instant which signifies the birth of humankind. The same powerful spiritual image has another meaning in these complex times — when the human touch and smiles on faces have gone missing. We are surrounded by fear, anxiety and depression. We are living in a time when all we really want is that touch, that spark to relive, to say the unsaid things, to rejoin and to cherish the moments of what we have lost and what we have.”
The second painting, titled, Quarantined, is inspired by perhaps what is now the ‘word of the year.’ The painting showcases a girl who keeps her hair braid in front of her face rather than at the back.
She explains, “This very small work was done in the beginning of the pandemic situation. This was the response of the news and information we were surrounded with. It reminded me how boredom feels and one has that empty mind which they use in useless things at such times. People swamped on social media, YouTube, TikTok (which is now banned in India) and were busy doing stupid things. Things which have little happiness, things which make others laugh and keep everyone engaged.”
The third, Gaze, is a portrait of a friend. She says, “I am trying to create a strange gaze on her face which is on society and its system, currently,” questioning and trying to come to terms with the uncertainty around.