Art

All That Shines

by PREM SINGH

Right from my childhood, the shining and sparkling things around fascinated me.

Embroidery done in zari, tilla, gotta-kinnãri, salma-sitãré, all added joy to the soul. A woman laden with jewellery held a special charm to me. Playing with the golden and silver sheets of paper was a pleasure. Decorating the walls with the painting of flowers and leaves in gold and silver was a passion for me. The use of such metallic colours on clay toys was a common phenomenon. The spirit of our fairs, festivals, customs and ceremonies glow through this. Shining gumbads and kalash of gurdwaras and mandirs reminded me of the divinely powers. Palaces embellished with gold and silver denuded royal charm and grandeur.

In all such manifestations the only purpose that we see is that of decoration.

Art awakened in me at an early age. This inspired me to have a closer look on the works of art created in the East and the West over the centuries. Gold leafs or its ghot were used by Indian artists for painting of mukats, ornaments, garments, borders, etc. in the art of miniature painting.

Most of this art was produced under the patronage of rajas and maharajas, so due consideration was accorded to their taste
and liking.

The advent of the modern era brought with it a new thinking which led to individual freedom. This newly acquired autonomy culminated in a new sensibility and gave the modern period a distinct identity.

Though this new-found autonomy was opposed by the then conventional thinking, yet the latter could not stop the surge of creativity. The works of modern art though seen in ornamental frames in earlier times did reflect on the traditional mentality but it soon disappeared.

Here in the subcontinent, the use of gold and silver in our Mughal, Rajput and Pahari kalam was very realistic.

All this made me think about the use of gold, silver, copper and bronze beyond its conventional use and explore the tremendous possibilities hidden in these colours. This was also a part of my nature and also in my desire. Moreover, the inspiration of my art lies in nature and its eternal music. While enjoying this eternal music, I approach my canvas to sing my song on it. The whiteness of the canvas is scary to me. To ward off the scariness, I fill up the canvas with just one colour. That colour could be any. In the process, I discover in the web of my brush strokes a new rhythm lying beneath them. In such a vast array of strokes I record or register or compose by outlining them with charcoal. Soon my canvas wears a web of different tunes and tones.

In my new canvases, the viewer would find the play of colours - gold, silver, copper, bronze and pearl - in as varied a manner as possible. Like the shine of the sun and the moonlight change day and night into a spectrum of different emotions and feelings, thus evoking a special mood, colour and music to each one of them,  I try to evoke the same through the shine and sparkle of my colours. An organic feel of the silent activity of nature, intensive chirping of the birds in the low light of morning and evening,
the transcendental music of light - all this and much more is an integral part of my creative quest.

Light plays in my painting. And in this play the changing tones, textures, hues and shades create a Rãgmala of its own. And in the shine and sparkle of the Rãgmala, I not only experience my childhood but also the realisation of my own growth.

An Exhibition of paintings by Prem Singh will continue at the Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, India, until August 19, 2011.

August 14, 2011

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