Aiyana Gunjan’s exhibition titled Delhi O Delhi combines the artist’s love for music, calligraphy and watercolour
A calligraphy art titled Delhi O Delhi depicts an artist’s sense of being lost in the concentric circles of Delhi roads. “Metaphorically, she hints at the confounding trap of money and power that defines Delhi’s socio-political map,” describes artist Aiyana Gunjan. The Delhi-based artist’s solo show titled The Moving Finger at India Habitat Centre is inspired by Omar Khayyam’s poem, Rubaiyat that captures the essence of an artist’s perception.
In one of her paintings, you can find the description of the sargam. The artist, who is also a trained sitar player, says, “I have integrated three art forms together. First, I have used watercolour water and secondly, it is made with the calligraphy kalam and then there is music. An entire sargam is described in this piece and it is about how music transcends boundaries.”
Gunjan explains her work and shares, “It has a single stroke and you have to go stroke by stroke. In calligraphy, you need a lot of practice and patience because each stroke stands on its own. So, the stroke has to be perfect and disciplined.”
The artist believes that there is a lot which can be learnt from the Arabic form of art. In a painting titled Aspiration, she has created bold strokes inspired by the Arabic script. “The alphabet in calligraphy has flow and strength and I am inspired by the Arabic flow. I am going to learn it to increase my strokes vocabulary,” she says.
Gunjan’s work is not only inspired by the Arabic script but she is also inspired by the culture of Buddhism and Hindu deities. One of her works depicts the Buddhist concept of Ichinen Sanzen which means past, present, future in one single moment and the another work of her depicts where she has transcribed the entire Shivoham song in English script. “I am a Shiva bhakt and Shiva is the energy behind everything related to creation, destruction and recreation. The work for me is getting closer to an unbounded consciousness of what life and death is about,” concludes the artist.