Mahula Ghosh
The non-representational forms came in my work towards the end of my college days in kala bhavana, Santiniketan. The aesthetics of Tagore's art was very much part of our pedagogic practice and my visual vocabulary has been deeply enriched by it. The shadows of old gigantic trees whispered mysteriously and shifting shapes between known and unknown. I don't consider my work as abstract. There are hints of recognizable forms from nature and objects. The memory of places, people, incidents, pain, pleasure all took shape and became part of that landscape. There are subtle messages of the vulnerability of current times, in my surroundings and the world. That's why, burn mark in the land, composition with yellow came to my work.
Living in Delhi and in my home town Siliguri, I sometimes work around the old architectures of Delhi and also around tea garden, its labour and factories, but they go beyond representation. The form and structures of architectures, machines and human form merge to become independent form its usual reference.
While working, I look outside the window for a long time. The ever-changing details in nature become my inspiration and resource. The wide open space and vast sky change colour with season. What is familiar in bright sun become unfamiliar on a foggy day. Paddy fields changing form and colour over time, ploughing of land and sowing seed, the process of growth from sapling to trees and decay become abstract forms in my work. For some work when I travelled near Dhania More, an India- Bangladesh border in West Bengal, I saw two countries are separated by barbed wire and high fencing. But it was nice to see birds flying from one side to the other and the same grassland and trees sawing in wind on both sides. Nature knows no boundaries. We humans have created this separation due to which there are constant conflict and suffering in various parts of the world. These issues get reflected in my work in subtle and sensitive way.
My main medium is watercolour and handmade paper but I use rice paper as well and incorporate stitching. The handling of watercolour and stitching has a very contrasting feel but I enjoy these contradictions and in the end, they are blended together and complement each other. I also make artist's books as an extension of my paintings. The books are a visual memoir, a collection of narratives that tell stories of different times and experiences
