Through different media of printmaking like lithography, wood engraving, etching and enamel paintings, artist Ajit Seal showcases his journey of 40 years of art practises and how he has experienced many transformations over time. By Team Viva
In trying to articulate the thoughts about artist Ajit Seal’s works, one examines not only them but also the relationship the artist has with the works. It’s after all a long process — from their fabrication till the time they get their final shape. The exhibition, Idioms & Images, directs the viewers to understand the variety in his artworks by dividing them into different phases. First, the regional periphery, and second, the idioms and images where Ajit’s printmaking process has much to say about the route, conceptual diversion and the process of growth an artist undergoes.
The images also usher the audience in three directions — of complex metaphysical ideas, towards the path of simplicity, and towards an artistic quest, where the artist’s works represent how man and society can perpetually renew and transcend themselves by the self-transcending meanings, values and purposes in life. Ajit’s experiments and display of the different media of printmaking such as lithography, wood engraving, etching, plate lithography and enamel paintings showcase his journey of 40 years of art practices and how he has experienced many transformations in his artistic journey.
His works have gone through many artistic phases and the show portrays the different varieties of the printmaking process. On the face of it, the works show a versatile technique and imagery for which Ajit has been known well. They also seem to have a unique feature in the unconcealed reference to the Indian mythology and auspicious symbols which he derived from religious conviction. He had said earlier, “Although there are mythological references in my works, they are predominated from my personal experiences.” It is on this wider background that his works echo at the very heart of contemporary art practices and the issues of self-identity.
There are three major objectives that Ajit explores. First, the visual language that he uses. Second, the thought-process he uses to guide the making of his artworks. Third, the wider chronological framework through which he both produces his works as well as thinks the work will occupy a significant place.
At the very first sight of Ajit’s printmaking works, one becomes aware of his images and they speak volumes about his thoughts and beliefs. With the help of strong narratives, his works reflect his own musings which keep transforming, sometimes static, veiling, unveiling and changing as he progresses.
The images and prints are the silhouettes of his inner self. His works communicate expressions of everyday experiences, along with the belief that its identity is made up of a body, of thoughts, feelings, ambitions, plans, ideas, values, impulses, desires, actions, qualities, and so on.
Ajit’s works are an approach where he presents a traditional and spiritual morality into visual perspective. His works emerge from a personal quest, for which the most suitable media and materials that express his ‘self’ are lithographies, wood engraving as well as etching. His work process goes with the flow of his thoughts. He says, “Sometimes ideas emerge gradually through the everyday things I am engaged in and other times, it takes a long thinking process for days before I start exploring the visual concepts on different printing media.”
The illusion of reality is one of Ajit’s prime objectives and he seems to be moving around the circumference of a time circle for which his art is governed by much aesthetic austerity. He tries to communicate with the viewers through his private emotions and sensations — not so much as his eyes see, but rather as the effect on his inward being when he looks at particular things. His works forsake representational images but aim to communicate personal sensations. His works certainly need to be looked into deeply because his narratives act as a way for the viewers towards a course of perseverance.
He says, “I am inspired by the movements of the flora which surround me and the movements of life, be it of the inner self or the outer world.”