Anahite Contractor
”…that
violent energy, which is like a fire of straw, consumes in a few
minutes the nervous vitality, and is useless in the arts. Our fire must
burn slowly, and we must constantly turn away to think, constantly
analyze what we have done …”
W.B.
Yeats
The
world of Sujata Bajaj is indeed simmering with “nervous vitality”. A
variety of media, pigment and techniques gather on the surface of the
artist’s picture plane, somewhat like memories which converge in a rare
moment from several different sources and rush into an effulgent flame
nonchalantly and with spontaneity. Numerous layers are worked upon with
an admirable blend of impetuosity and restraint, and not even the
minutest denudation will ever reveal the private meanderings which
constitute these translucent veils.
Vigorous
strokes perform a ritualistic dance; forms emerge magically from
abstractions and even the script (devanagari, in this case) attains a
legitimate persona. A scintillating metaphor arises thereof, defying
the spectator to attribute any one interpretation about itself. A
conglomeration of smudge, stroke, smear and flourish conciliate adamant
individualistic forms to co-exist harmoniously. Even so, the innate
rhythm of Sujata’s works is formidable; it may not always be as calm as
it poses to be; a sudden vociferous contradiction balances an ongoing
dialectic. In these works one observes a masterly tightrope walk
between restraint and abandon. Mellifluous, fluid images are in
graceful juxtaposition with fiery tempestuous ones.
Aqueous
forms constituting layers of memory palpitate with quiet energy. In
Sujata’s one views a style brimming with this energy, whatever the
medium might be. Even the paintings in this exhibition enmesh the vital
core of the artist’s vision and amplify the indefatigable spirit of
line, space and pigment. Internal structures possess a rhythm of their
own and create a labyrinth of private spaces with an occasional beam of
light on a fragment of alphabets. Such luminaries pose as potential
points of reference in Sujata’s work, but are, most of the time,
titillating forms used more for their corporeal presence than to reveal
meaning per se. It might be possible, however, to apply the rudiments
of semiology here, though this interpretation may not necessarily be
shared by the artist herself. Sujata’s use of fragments of manuscripts
and her own graceful transcription of letters constructs a dialectic of
sign, syntax and signification, all of which throw themselves open to
yet another frame of analysis. This is, to the artist, what notes are
to rhythms, images to a poem, analysis to research, and colours to a
rainbow.
< style="font-family: arial;">The Yeatsian “fire” in
Sujata Bajaj does burn slowly as we have watched it meander from coal
to thunderous flame. The dynamics of her style arise not from lean
logistics of line, space and colour alone; the pregnant energies of
Sujata’s works get incarnated in diverse forms and in diverse ways they
remind us that some fires do not burn out.
Anahite
Contractor
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