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Statement
When
speed is the essence of life, life loses the essence of quality. We find ourselves enslaved by
reason. The rigidity and
repetitiveness of a routine life reduces humans to machines. Emotive factors are subconsciously
perceived as a hindrance to survival and we unknowingly build up an immunity to
all emotional stimuli. My mental
disposition (or perhaps Òmy limitationsÓ), if I may confess, has always been
receptive towards the idea of commonalities: what is the centripetal force or
value that inferentially holds all the familiar and unfamiliar things together,
or does such value truly even exist. Being an artist I not only ask such questions, but I fortunately live
with them. Art serves the
individual by resurrecting the numbness of sensory faculties, supplementing
freshness to aeon-old sayings. It
reignites human emotions such as fear, love, sadness and happiness—in
brief it keeps us human.
Walking
Backwards: How and why, I might have stained the canvas?
Milarepa,
Me and Robert Frost: On the poem ÒThe Road not TakenÓ.
This
painting is a product of an attempt to fuse Milarepa, a great Tibetan
poet/philosopher, with a renowned Western poet Robert Frost, precisely with the
ideation of FrostÕs most controversial poem ÒThe Road not TakenÓ. The dramatic life of Milarepa has
fascinated me ever since I was a child. I still remember being awed at the portrayal of his personality in
various Tibetan plays. Fusing the two entities have given me an opportunity at
a personal level to explore the idea of the individual as an artist. MilarepaÕs life proclaims change and
FrostÕs poem embraces the journey. Furthermore, in the context of Tibetan contemporary art, it provides me
with a challenge that demands both the elements of change and of an
individualized process.
The
Metamorphosis of Mind:
This
painting is my personal hypothesis on the mind. Though Buddhists believe that humans are inherently born
with the qualities of compassion, love and forgiveness, I believe that the
genesis of life comes from a wonderful struggle to survive. And compassion, love and forgiveness
are qualities that are instead achieved and earned rather than given. I try to present that view by having
gametes at the center of the painting that resides right over the axle. As one has to earn those values,
progression and time both have important roles in the painting, I have,
therefore tilted the wheel towards the right with the outermost fire ring
moving in a circular clockwise motion.
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