An ongoing exhibition at the British Council brings together the artwork of three artists who specialise in different media
Subverting the Renaissance domain of the Vitruvian Man by leonardo da Vinci and replacing him with a woman as the centre of the universe in the form of a mural in an exhibition, Kristine Michael lets her women take the centre stage and speak for themselves. She is one of the artists who are turning established concepts on their head through different media at a group show, Parallel Dimensions, organised by British Council.
Sujata Singh, Ananda Moy Banerjee and Kristine Michael started their career in the UK and with this exhibition, they have brought out their finest artwork. They primarily deal with figures that depict the human condition in relation to the nature and societal environs around them.
“I gave the title Parallel Dimensions because it works on different levels. All three of us are working in our domain but the link between nature and humans can be witnessed in our work,” says Michael.
Michael’s sculptures have been mounted in a series of pairs. Her work revolves around gender, creativity and fertility. For her, “A pair is the symbol of womanhood and its evolution through relationships.” We liked the pair of a mother and a child bonded to each other as a symbol of cosmic continuity.
Her Vitruvian Woman represents the power and capability that a woman has to become the centre of the universe.Adds Michael, “I have turned Da Vinci on its head. During Renaissance, the man was the sought after perfection. He embodies essential symmetry of the human body and by extension the universe. For me, nothing can be more harmonious than a woman with as ideal a proportion as a man.” Michael’s women almost personify our Shakti images
On the other hand, Sujata Singh has used the elements of nature — fire, water, light and air — in all her paintings. The interface to deal with nature and humans remains the same but how the artist uses it is quite different. Water colours like yellow, red, green and blue lend vibrancy to her artwork.
“Being an Indian artist, one thing that really intrigued me after coming back to my country was the splash of colours. I think humans acquire colour in proximity to nature,” she says.
Singh, who uses a lot of pen inks in her work, thinks that inks are easier to use for smaller paintings. The other media that she likes to play with are oil and water colours.
Printmaker Ananda displays the condition of humans through a series of multiple encounters with the artist. His work is a mix of many techniques, such as cerography, digital prints and layers of transparency. Banerjee elaborates, “All these are prints but with different techniques. I have tried to mix cerography and digital printing. The paper and the layer of the print meet each other for many times and this is how this whole thing started evolving. For me, these encounters touched the periphery of human emotions and took on a life of their own.”