Sarla Chandra’s art works embrace multiple facets of life and a physical reality that serves as a constant reminder that there is no difference between the inner and outer worlds. They are both repositories of energy fuelling natural growth and human creativity. More important, however, is the fact that this essential energy radiates uniformly through all the forms it has metamorphosed into. From here, the journey to her non-figurative art is easy and natural. The essential feature of this phase is flow, with or without elements that it comes in contact with along its journey, like planets, the sun, the lotus, rocks and even fish.
Her non-figurative paintings work with only a minimum of symbols recognizable in them. The color, texture, form and the materials used are the only vehicles of her expression. These works express her consciousness with a directness and simplicity that allows one not only to understand what she means to say but also to travel along the physical journey she has outlined and then take off on one’s own. This last is an important quality of all good art without which it cannot claim to be that.
In her work, the inspiration is from the Prithvi Sukta of the Atharva Veda that extols the earth “on whom are the ocean and river, the waters; on whom food, ploughings, came into being; who bears many forms that breathe and stir”. This energy that transforms itself into many forms radiates in the artist’s works through the patina of gold and silver behind the colours. “I now use a thin layer of silver or gold foil pasted on the canvas. Once that is dry, I begin to apply colours according to the theme and idea I have in mind. Thus, in its final effect, every painting reflects a subtle glimmer of silver or gold from behind the colour palette, creating a dramatic effect visually”.
Non-figurative art has its own material transcendental qualities that are far superior to the narrow and even puerile definitions of spiritual experience in metaphysical literature. This transcendental sensation created by the artist and felt by the viewer is both broader and deeper than what metaphysical philosophy or meditation on conventional symbols can achieve. This is what gives Sarla’s non-figurative art its special place in contemporary artistic expression and raises it above artificially created metaphysical concepts. It has a material basis and a physical effect on the viewer.
Sarla’s non figurative art liberates viewers from the limits of representation and conventional symbols and texts, giving us instead the feel of life the artist is able to create from the perspective of our own perception which allows for a far greater freedom from the conceptual limitations of religious and metaphysical beliefs. That indeed, is the strength we see developing in this series of Sarla’s works, which gives them relevance as the latest step in her ongoing journey.
By Suneet Chopra
