As indivisible parts of a whole, the mind perceives and the body performs. The mind foresees a movement and ideally the body moves in accordance. In traditional parlance, yoga- a body-mind confluence seeks to unify this duality. It evolves as a way of living where asanas or postures are an important element of the yogic path. For Shailesh B. O., these postures have acted as pure explorations of forms initially in his paintings and later as sculptures in wax as a study for his paintings. The process of observing the tensile movements of a body reaching a static position has continually inspired him in his quest to work with different media. His versatility in using the ‘performative body’ as a dominant form is seen in his water colour and acrylic paintings, street art, videography and sculptures cast in ‘fibre powder hollow casting’ and in papier-mâché.
The present collection of sculpture and paintings on display reveals an inherent introspection once again drawing from tradition and contemporaneity. His exposure to Yakshagana, a traditional theatre form of Karnataka besides folk forms of tiger dance has further evolved into an interesting gamut of works. The suppleness of a young dancer in a Yakshagana troupe and the acrobatic beauty of a tiger dance and dancers with masks has added to his imaginative repertoire. In combining folk with the traditional the artist creates an interesting metaphorical visual representation of human and animal forms in postures sometimes adulatory and at times comical or whimsical.
Choosing to work with pine wood for the very first time Shailesh has allowed the process to connect the past with the present. They evolve as three- dimensional extensions of his paintings seen alongside. The natural cream colour and soft beauty of pine wood is retained in most of the sculptures unfolding the many layers of intuition, will, emotions and subjective perception of the artist’s dexterity. The artist captures the symmetry of each movement encompassing both the potential and limitations of a stretch, a twist, wide legged forward bend, backward bending or balancing the body using the hands or head. The surprise element is the creative embellishment of a traditional crown adorning the head of a ‘devi’ or metaphoric animal mask heads and limbs of a fish, tiger, garuda, lion, goat, cat or deer.
An exception in approach is seen in the usage of material and textural variances achieved by chipping and add on material. The ‘Palaki’ displays a wooden icon in a plastic wire palanquin and ‘the Buddha’ is presented as a painted form using a palette of bright colours such as pink, orange and blue. In another work the portrayal of a boy playing a musical instrument dramatically captures magical moments with tiger and deer masks using mirror, silver foil and gold foil. This is also seen in the works using fiber glass as a medium. In contrast are a group of nine paintings in acrylic. ‘Yogic Imitation’ that show two dimensional representations of postures seen in sculpture. The patterned, decorative and vivid floral background adds to the vibrancy of the composition.
Constantly inspired by the multiplicity of cultures, the painterly expression remains a spontaneous and predominantly intrinsic experience for Shailesh. If paintings allow him to build upon layers of colours, sculpting demands the reverse. Each work is carved and chipped away from a block of wood. But the artist faces the challenge with conviction that, ‘whatever I can’t do I do’. At times in collaborative spirit with a craftsman the artist imaginatively plays with forms that portray the joys of handling new medium and insights.
The present display places together an experiential dimension of illusion and reality, tradition and contemporaneity, painting and sculpture juxtaposing one with the other as the mind sees.
- Dr. Pramila Lochan
