Artists of The Week: From soil to sea, with cityscapes in between

Avijit Dutta: Staying rooted to earth

The objects we interact with make revelations about our existence, believe Avijit Dutta, who chronicles these mundane things and their connection to the surroundings in often stark frames. Using mixed media on paper, the artist says he likes to put a layer of soil or mud in his pieces, symbolic of the constant presence of the ground beneath our feet in our lives. Much of his art bears earthy colours, too, and the simplest of objects become social metaphors. In a series of renditions of jute bags, one of which is titled, ‘The Journey’, we see them in several avatars — a group of bags filled with rations, a solitary one opening up to reveal surprisingly jewel-toned contents, a human form hiding inside an upturned bag, and more.

In another few pieces, the symbol of the commode is depicted, possibly representing both human necessity and shame — artwork titled ‘Separate Space’ and ‘Do Not Disturb’ make for social commentary on our understanding of exposure and hiding. In yet another frame, titled ‘No One Is Permanent’, a cylinder sits on a throne in a dark room, with a dim spotlight focused on it — fertile grounds for the viewer’s imagination to dissect.

Bhartti Verma: A window into the mind

The cityscape forms a prominent motif in Bhartti Verma’s artwork, which usually has a window open, revealing an urban landscape of dreams. Another, even more prominent recurrence is the use of sudden coloured imagery inside monochromatically rendered works — these objects, reveals the artist, are often relics of nostalgia. Take for instance the piece made using mirror, acrylic and pen on canvas, titled ‘Manifestation’ — it appears labyrinthine but actually depicts a systematic, unraveled box-like outlay of a completely gray apartment, with a mirror-like, dead surface under which two basins sit side by side, their suddenly red and blue pipes, respectively, intertwined.

Similarly, ‘Secret Vault’, rendered with thread and pen on canvas, shows long corridors in a panorama view in black and white, housing at its heart a large crate held together with bright red string, drawing the eye to it instantly. Some of Bhartti’s most interesting art is contained in a distinct outline — in ‘Conveyance’, the shape of a transistor shows a sunlit room, looking out over a city through a glass wall, a connected microphone waiting for someone, while a bright red and yellow, ornate folksy blouse is fanned out on the wall, almost anthropomorphic in its stance.

Arti Paliwal: Landscapes in ceramic

The use of multiple materials like copper, concrete and wood often goes into primary work with ceramics for Arti Paliwal. Her inspiration, she says, include urban landscapes — visible in the unique rendition of ‘Urban Cup’, a piece of art in ceramic and concrete that visually depicts structures perched on the brim of a giant cup, spilling over onto a ‘city’ of more such building/blocks.

It brings to mind the axiom of ‘the cup that runneth over’ to a viewer; this motif is also seen in her work ‘Positive Horizon’, wherein a wooden brush shows a tiny city’s silhouette along its bristles and handle. Nature is another prominent theme for Arti. A series of works titled ‘Nature’s Servings’ see a mundane object like a kettle take on hues and shapes of marine flora, in varied shades of blue and peppered with diverse textures.

Shikha Mogha: Sea of femininity

While Shikha Mogha’s art aims to depict the strength of myriad women who survive the most difficult circumstances, her choice of symbol is unique — marine life. Using materials like sand stone, bronze and ceramic, Shikha crafts unique pieces of art that are dedicated to women via symbols of oceanic forms. The latter, she finds, tend to be soft, delicate in character and often mysterious, found in the depths of the ocean.

Using shades of blue and green in most of her work — or in some cases, retaining a pure white avatar — Shikha depicts underwater beings in all their grace, elegance and well-defined curves, reminiscent of a celebration of the female form and its essence.