Manu Singh uses wings as a metaphor to define complexities of life. She tells Divya Kaushik that she avoids using colours as they tend to blind us from our sense of judgement
Wings growing on the human body, wings floating freely in the space and wings merging with the surface, the tiny, white spots on the huge canvas are the source of hope, optimism and freedom in artist Manu Singh’s works.
Her show, Wings, Shadows & 1000 Birds at Triveni Kala Sangam, displays huge charcoal works that might look dark and gloomy at a glance, but as you will deeply observe the works, doting the shades of black and white, you will realise they talk about an imaginative, surreal world. The artist comments, “I have taken the help of reality and have combined that reality with my imagination. In the works you will see the reality and the imagination moving or merging in the same direction. I wanted to see how far I can push reality to the other side where the ‘real’ is still recognisable, but start becoming partially surreal. I wanted to see how far I can push both the real and the surreal at the same time into one another, building that tension until they are just one and the same.”
Singh has been fascinated with wings ever since she began drawing and painting. Wings and birds in different ways and forms have formed an integral part of her works.
She explains, “I have always been drawn to wings since I was a kid. Wings are symbol of aspiring to the greatest heights of accomplishment. Wings (mostly white in colour) stand for clarity of mind, and how clean mental focus combined with stable footing can transform our lives in magical ways. From time immemorial, birds are considered to be signs of eternal life. Many stories and folklore suggest that birds were taken as signs of renewed life, often as a transition between life and death. My works represent joy, harmony, ecstasy, balance and love. It denotes a sunny outlook to life, spiritual freedom and psychological liberation. It is symbolic of a transition or spiritual awakening. The paintings also refer to the craving of an individual for the inner child, which would obviously mean innocence. Through shadows I am trying to explain how our shadow holds the key to our inner self. Each of us has a shadow that whispers stories of our own self-defeating fears to us. My work shows how understanding our own shadow can lead us to tremendous realisation and peace.”
The works reveal the artist’s love for black and white. But she says the reason why she prefers not to use striking, bold colours on her canvas, “is to let the viewers judge the works. Colours tend to divert the attention. Without colour, value is easier to see and to judge. Also it is easier to understand atmospheric perspective without colour. I had to make use of tools other than colours to create the illusion of depth, thus I am trying to use more energy and imagination in the paintings.”
She keeps experimenting with the techniques to come up with something different and to come up with a tool to explain her works. “In this series I have developed my own technique with charcoal. You will never see such huge charcoal works, like I have created. To show the depth in the paintings it was important to work on huge canvas and to define the layers I have used charcoal. The medium in my paintings keep changing as per the theme that I want to convey,” she shares.
In different ways, some of her works also reflect the changing human situations and mindsets. Most of her works present the human forms in abstract nature. The show continue till January 12.