An Endeavour to Find Out the Secret Significance of Form and Appearance, A Discovering One's Deeper Self "Soul Of My Country"
New Delhi, 15 January 2017, 'Soul of My Country' an exhibition of painting by 73 yr old artist Uma Bardhan is being organized at the Open Palm Court Gallery at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The paintings for “Soul of my Country” exhibition series are of three types, decorative, figurative and narrative. In decorative paintings one can see birds, animals & human-beings. The figurative mainly includes God & Goddesses and a complete series on tandava dance forms of Lord Shiva. Furthermore there is narrative kind of paintings depicting life of rickshaw pullers, Rajputs etc. The paintings express the soul through life, but life is only a means of the spiritual self-expression, There is a vivid and vital representation, but it is more of an inner psychical than of the outward physical life. Featuring about 50 works, the exhibition will be on display till 17th January 2017.
Artist Uma Bardhan likes to travel a lot and goes to the interior places/villages/tribal area and showcases their lifestyle in her work. She has travelled widely in India from the Desert in Jaisalmer to the Ganges in Gomukh, Rishikesh Varanasi & Sunderbans etc. Her paintings showcased in the exhibition reflect diversity & versatility found in the rich culture & heritage of India.
She has travelled to various places in the interior West Bengal & spent time observing their culture, lifestyle & daily activities & finally showcase these characters especially women doing their daily chores. For e.g: women doing weaving, daily chores etc. Her realistic paintings speak volumes of her Artistic ability to establish a connect between her work and the viewer.
Talking about the exhibition, Uma Bardhan said, 'The spirit and motive of the show “Soul of my Country” is an endeavour to find out the secret significance of form and appearance, a discovering one's deeper self, the giving a soul-form to the vision and remoulding of the material and natural shape to express the psychic truth of it with the greatest possible purity and the power to outline the greatest possible concentrated rhythmic unity of significance in all parts of an indivisible artistic whole.'
All the paintings might look distinct at first glance, however the common thread among all the paintings are weaves around India & Indian women. The Soul of my country, India lives in its villages, where you can experience and share life in its fullest meaning. India and her core values & culture ingrained across the canvas, with soothing colors, melt with each other with dynamism so vigorous that it consumes the viewers. In another, the water color on silk are almost comforting, draws you in, she added.
For inspiration, Ms Bardhan draws from her travels — ideas and connections buried in the subconscious that manifest on the canvas. As a result of her extensive travel she has incorporate images that have spiritual significance in her painting. It’s believed that the paintings carry spiritual healing energy that can help people searching for balance and harmony in their lives.
This is what viewers will find, walking through Soul of my country— a solo painting exhibition of Ms Bardhan’s works, which are an amalgamation of paintings of different media & style which she learnt throughout her 4 decades of career in Art, which explore beautiful Landscape of India, her people & her culture. All of which is geared to create an illusion of devotion, love and peace.
About the Uma Bardhan:
· Born in 1945, in Kolkata, Uma specialises in figurative paintings, landscapes in water color on silk, oil on canvas and water mixable oil on canvas.
· Ms Bardhan’s realistic works at her studio in Gurgaon catches the attention of art lover. What is more fascinating about her is enthusiasm to learn different mediums of pantings and making them unique by adding a stroke of her artistic expression. At 73 there is no stopping for her.
· “God is the supreme creator of this universe and I as an artist take extreme pleasure in reflecting his creation in their actual form" says Artist Uma Bardhan. A look through her works reveals her versatility.
· Be it figurative or landscape painting, abstract art or depiction of diversity, Ms Bardhan’s work are indeed a visual treat!.
· Ms Bardhan is one of the very few artists who use a rare medium “Water Color on Silk”. A painstaking process where a special silk cloth is mounted on board before being used as a painting medium.
· Ms Bardhan was trained under Sree Maniklal Banerjee (Ex Professor of Govt. College of Arts & Craft, Calcutta ) & eminent artists like Late Sree Makhan Dutta Gupta in oil color.
