ARTIST STATEMENT

My art captures moments of significance and intense personal or observed emotion as embedded in my subconscious and memory. I paint from instinct, in a meditative state, inspired by music, and the subject of my art emerges from a process of acting upon natural impulses while creating as an improviser. The choice of colour, technique and composition are often informed from my aesthetics in dance creation. Painting has emerged as a natural result of my involvement in the world of dance, choreography and the performing arts. Dance is visual and I found the medium of painting as a fascinating parallel expression, of what words and bodies could not always immediately release.

I use primarily acrylics in painting because of the fluidity they allow me in shaping my artworks using the motion of my bare hands as much as the different parts of my paintbrushes. Rhythm and a physical sense of flow affect how I create abstracted forms of objects, human beings, and landscapes in my paintings that have influences of impressionism and in some cases minimalism. More recently I am exploring working with pencil, charcoal and mixed media as well.

I am greatly inspired by nature and the shapes, lines, textures and colours I see in nature find their imprint in my art. I choose abstraction as it’s been a favourite device to transform the original thought or feeling and offer the viewer a range of possibilities in interpretation.

Having lived most of my life in India, the chaos of my surroundings which are my normal can often be seen in the vibrant and bold colours, strong brushstrokes and sharp contrasts appearing on my canvases. On the other hand, from experiences of living in different parts of Asia and Europe and now in the UK I express these cultural impressions with quieter tones and more subtle colour palettes.