Artist Anupama invites you to her new exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi on an unusual journey to seek the truth. A chaotic narrative occurs in Anupama’s work. Her tales appear dramatic as if an exaggerated play is happening on the stage. Highly detailed work ignites a thoughtful rendering and delves deeper into the relationship of humans with other beings. A subtle expression of her worldview generates a pursuit of wonder. Her creative compositions consist of numerous elements that are scaled in a way that they create an exposed reality of the material world. Colours in her works create tension and hold attention that knits a tale of disbelief. The masks in her works not only act as a tool to represent cultural relevance but also as motifs to exhibit the two sides of human nature. Her work also represents folk tales, her connection with masks investigates the ever-changing realities, generates discourses on magical realism, and effectively exhibits the creative use of lines that not only establish a sense of beauty but also provoke a radical thought to interrogate the essence of nature.
Anupama’s transformation to an academic style of work results from her distinctive training and her worldview that mostly ponders the natural being. Her quest is to understand the reality which is often covered by the masks. She knows the nature of truth. Her works are centred around her consciousness, amalgamating her experience of dance and drama. Rhythm in her works acts as an efficient tool, creating motion and subtle patterns through constructive composition planes that allow her to discover the notion of self-knowledge. Her work addresses the emphasized connections of masks in everyday life; she tries to question morality in the world and reflects on the contribution of masks in building these unheard narratives.
Anupama shares her process: “I used to visit a studio near Santiniketan, there were a lot of lizards over there, and because it appeared to be scary, it became my interest for work as its movement reminds me of mine as a dancer. After conducting research, I incorporated it into the masks that I made. These works offer a narrative that the thing that appears is not true, for example, the lizards seem scary, and it creates an illusion that it will harm us, the same goes with humans. We make decisions on appearance, and that is how I connect to it. I have worked in different mediums, including woodcut, etching, cyanotype, lithography, etc. I make my colours, I don’t work with readymade colours.”
Anupama’s journey in art began with cerebral support from her parents. Spending childhood in a small village in West Bengal, arts were in her veins. She was interested in diverse art forms including dance, drama, and music, which also became her motivation for rhythm in her works. She pursued a year-long fellowship at Nagpur Govt. Art College, and achieved a Master’s and PhD in Printmaking at Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh. With a two-year junior fellowship from the Ministry of Culture in 2018. Her ongoing exploration in printmaking is woven into a unique artistic narrative, influenced by a lifelong commitment to realization and creation.
Image Courtesy – Dr Anupama Dey
Contributor
