A new exhibition called “You Will Come Across This Face One Day” began recently at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, where the highly critical voices of the unheard cosmos are decoratively presented. There is serene texture and extremely well-woven narrative in Nayar’s extravagant series of works that delves deeper into the matter of nature and the vivid mystery of the cosmos and surroundings by using Nayika as a protagonist in his works. His works initially appear like a mystery covered with invisible clouds of uncertainty, though after a critical investigation, the subject becomes clearer, just like the open blue sky.
Nayar’s work focuses on the feminine energy that amalgamates beautifully with the colours that offer a blended reality of a dream-like image. The lines drawn provide a wide array of investigations that deal with his creative compositions and imitate his subjective reality. The artist’s long, solitary journey took him through many enriching, vibrant, and thought-provoking experiences that helped him discover the environment’s critical nature and narratives around him. His obsession with energy and dissecting nature’s mysteries enabled him to transform those tales in his works.
Ved Nayar spent his initial formative years amidst a forest, which directed his vision toward nature and shaped his ways of seeing. As a shy kid, he found his solitude and comprehension in the trees of the wild forest that were like an honest friend to him. Smelling and picking flora, climbing and jumping around trees, conversation with different birds and species felt like the musical music he took with him to his home and throughout his life, which is very much visible in all his works.
His concise and precise depiction of the musical chords of nature under the mysterious cosmos is what makes his works highly recognizable and admirable. He always liked to express himself; thus, this series of works is nothing but the experiences and narratives that created his childhood.
There’s no question about his style and inspiration, which is quite dominant in his works. He also expresses his keen interest in using feminine personalities as a significant tool for performing silently but providing mighty echoes. He was born in 1933 in Lyallpur, India. Nayar and his family shifted to New Delhi during the partition, where he completed his graduation from St. Stephen’s College in 1952. After that, he finished his diploma in fine arts from the National College of Fine Art in 1957 and showcased his works at the national exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi.
In 1981, he received a national award from the Lalit Kala Akademi for his sculpture titled Mankind 2110. He has also held several solo shows of his paintings, sculptures, and installations in India and participated in several group and international exhibitions. Initially a painter, Nayar dwelled in other mediums such as sculpture, installation, archival digital print, and photography. His connection with the abstract depiction of human forms, mainly women, evolved throughout the years and took the front seat of wonders, lying between nature’s abyss and strictness. His works primarily generated queries on the relationship between a man and his surroundings.
Nayar’s works emit sounds of unheard narratives and provide their rhythm. His visual notations and motifs effectively enhance the essence of his peculiar background, delving meticulously into the layers of his dreamy and languorous reflection that brings a dynamic awareness and ignites motion in the heart. Nayar’s connection with the mango grove was like a never-ending bond that kept him intact with nature and appeared like a human torso. Now, we must examine the use of distorted lines in all his works; the character seems to be diminished, thus creating a sense of mystery. This array of works makes a discourse on the effective use of colour, which blends so that the image is silently immersed in the pictorial plane.
One thing that excites me the most is the choice of subject. It speaks vividly and offers many unheard cosmic revelations that act as a jewelled crown on the head of the feminine figure used for this profoundly touching work. This collection also provides a personal connection with the surroundings and lets the viewers examine themselves in the highest order. It acts like a mirror representing the unexplored self and allows us to ponder the unresolved mysteries of nature’s silence.
The branches, trunk, and leaves became the quintessential motivation that allowed him to look at the microscopic level to understand his position between the interwoven cosmic conjunctions and subtle movement of this naturally moving world. His consciousness gained sensitive accelerated directions from the globalization and colonization that designed his overall understanding. He seeks beauty in different ways and emphasizes traditional Indian voices and culture. He finds himself deeply connected with the irresistible quest to find new ways to explore human nature. Endless journey of a man that forces him to know about his most authentic self, which finds its direction in this series of works.
His views on the ever-changing narratives of India throughout history have led him to explore the unsolved resistance and motionless motion of the country’s development and Western influence on it. The environment and living conditions have become highly catastrophic, with no control over human desires and inner tendencies. Nayar’s strokes and deeply immersed subject bring back the disappeared motives and thoughts from the lives of many in an earthy-toned pictorial field, where his images stand out in a utopian world where the spiritual energies of nature and femininity offer plenty of visual statements. Ved Nayar seeks the vital space to reconnect the broken bridge between Nature and Culture through his art and recurrent imagery.
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