A Reflective Journey
A Reflective Journey is a body of work based on my memories of childhood in India.
These are a few of the images from the series. Most of the work is created with acrylic and oil on canvas, some include torn letters adhered onto canvas to create a unique surface, and some are made using oil paints on canvas.
These are a few of the images from the series. Most of the work is created with acrylic and oil on canvas, some include torn letters adhered onto canvas to create a unique surface, and some are made using oil paints on canvas.
Black Umbrella, acrylic and oil on canvas, 122 X 89 cm, is an abstraction from a smaller painting of the monsoon in Kolkata (see below). Here I have utilised the properties of colour and of paint on canvas to communicate the narrative aspects of painting and create the effects of light and atmospheric perspective. I use this cropping or abstraction as a metaphor for memory.
Woman Washing, oil on canvas, oil on canvas, 90 X 60 cm, is an evocation of a common sight, where once again I have depicted water and reflections as yet another metaphor for memory. The woman is painted from imagination yet every so often a likeness of my Mother crept in and out of it...
Woman Washing, oil on canvas, oil on canvas, 90 X 60 cm, is an evocation of a common sight, where once again I have depicted water and reflections as yet another metaphor for memory. The woman is painted from imagination yet every so often a likeness of my Mother crept in and out of it...
Bather, Mixed media on canvas, 89.5 x 89.5 cm Arches and Domes, Mixed media on canvas, 42 x 30 cm
Another example of the cropping device I used, taking a small section
of a painting and enlarging it, as a
of a child under a water pump, is one I saw on a daily basis. The use of the magic and mystique of (Kolkata.
the colour orange is symbolic of childhood in Hindu culture, and the
roughness of the surface is linked to the lives of children living on
the streets of Kolkata.
I used this painting to explore memories of domes and minarets that formed part of the magic and mystique of Kolkata. I prepared this canvas support by fusing torn strips of a Kolkata telephone directory!
of a painting and enlarging it, as a
of a child under a water pump, is one I saw on a daily basis. The use of the magic and mystique of (Kolkata.
the colour orange is symbolic of childhood in Hindu culture, and the
roughness of the surface is linked to the lives of children living on
the streets of Kolkata.
I used this painting to explore memories of domes and minarets that formed part of the magic and mystique of Kolkata. I prepared this canvas support by fusing torn strips of a Kolkata telephone directory!
Entrance, Mixed media on canvas, 90 x 90 cm
I used papier mache on this canvas to represent the cow pats often seen drying
on outer walls of buildings. Once dried by the sun, the cow pats are used as fuel by the poor if India. In contrast, the entrance the the Victoria Memorial in
Kolkata is a symbol of the privileged. The painting represents the almost symbiotic Relationship in crowded India cities like Kolkata.
Snake Charmer, Mixed media on canvas, 60 x 90 cm.
I used papier mache on this canvas to represent the cow pats often seen drying
on outer walls of buildings. Once dried by the sun, the cow pats are used as fuel by the poor if India. In contrast, the entrance the the Victoria Memorial in
Kolkata is a symbol of the privileged. The painting represents the almost symbiotic Relationship in crowded India cities like Kolkata.
Snake Charmer, Mixed media on canvas, 60 x 90 cm.
Montage with Paper Boats, mixed media on canvas, 95.6 x 71 cm Window, mixed media on canvas, 96.5 x 71 cm
This, the first of my larger paintings begun in the third year of my Fine Through this painting I endeavoured to speak
Art Degree, was one I kept returning to, making the underpainting in of inequalities that existed.
acrylics, adding images loosely based on personal photographs and It is again a montage of remembered images
from memory, the Howrah Bridge serving as a physical link. I completed such as the common crow that my Mother used
the paper boats in oils. to feed! The composition was first set down in acrylic
paint with torn paper and silver leaf and then finished
The paper boats in the foreground are particularly evocative. in oils.
This, the first of my larger paintings begun in the third year of my Fine Through this painting I endeavoured to speak
Art Degree, was one I kept returning to, making the underpainting in of inequalities that existed.
acrylics, adding images loosely based on personal photographs and It is again a montage of remembered images
from memory, the Howrah Bridge serving as a physical link. I completed such as the common crow that my Mother used
the paper boats in oils. to feed! The composition was first set down in acrylic
paint with torn paper and silver leaf and then finished
The paper boats in the foreground are particularly evocative. in oils.
Monsoon in Calcutta, mixed media on canvas, 50 x 60 cm. The streets of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) become flooded during the monsoon and the city virtually come to a halt. Vehicles break down and youths hasten to assist the driver and earn a little buksheesh! The only vehicles that operate almost as normal are hand carts and rickshaws. The scene is etched in my memory! |
Under the Trees, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 50cm. This is a scene that I will have witnessed on a daily basis in my childhood. It includes the bistiwallah, who carried water to householders who did not have running water. From a public water pump he would fill his bag made from animal skin that he then carried across his back.
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NB Bather is abstracted' from this painting!
Meditation, mixed media on canvas, 42 x 30 cm. Many painted images Mehndi, mixed media on canvas, 42 x 30 cm. The
of the Buddha were superimposed on this canvas, in the manner of a tradition of henna painted hands is synonymous
mantra or litany, before it evolved into something that is more than a with weddings and celebrations, and although I had
depiction of the iconic head. seen this often on many of my childhood friends,
because of my Christian upbringing, it was not until
I was an adult in the West that I experienced this for myself!
of the Buddha were superimposed on this canvas, in the manner of a tradition of henna painted hands is synonymous
mantra or litany, before it evolved into something that is more than a with weddings and celebrations, and although I had
depiction of the iconic head. seen this often on many of my childhood friends,
because of my Christian upbringing, it was not until
I was an adult in the West that I experienced this for myself!