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Transforming the World with the Magic of Art

Manisha Gera Baswani has just finished her grand solo show at the Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi. In an interview with JohnyML, the artist speaks about her subtle world of images as well as the concrete world of realities. Excerpts:

Manisha

JohnyML: Your works, even when they are dealing with landscapes, architectural forms etc, remind me of human bodies. In fact they look like surrogate female bodies. Do you impart that feeling deliberately in your works?

Manisha Gera Baswani: I start with a completely blank canvas letting my hand move and an instinct takes over. My creation is coming out of me but yet at the same time, I feel like an outsider watching it come alive - like a surrogate mother.

That act of painting for me is a meditative, self reflective experience. There is no political or philosophical message that is consciously embedded. If that’s the protagonist who appears in my work, I am not aware.

JML: Your images convey a feeling of immersion and submerging. Behind the predominant layer made out of the tea wash, one could see several layers, layers of animal forms, decorative windows etc. They look like pages from a very personal diary; a diary of innumerable visual codes. Could you please explain this process of picture making?

MGB: I create my own puzzle by spreading around the pieces – these are the objects in my paintings. I start out rationally to solve the puzzle. I go with the flow as I do not have a premeditated sketch to dictate me. And somewhere, I feel immersed in the imagery, running through the ‘wonderland’ – it’s an adventure and anything is possible.

I must clarify that I am also not restricted in what I use as subject matter. Darth Vader, James Bond, Elvis, fruits, flowers, planets, animals, buildings – all are invited.

All paintings have codes and the artist isn’t always the writer of the code. A viewer may use the skeleton key of personal experiences to decipher the visual code and view something the artist never consciously painted. That’s entirely the viewer’s pleasure.

JML: I would say that your earlier works were overt expressions. They used to simulate your liking and reading on popular art forms. You have made gramophone record forms, Elvis Presley and so on in your picture format. The latest set of works are seems to originate from a deep introspection. Is it so?

MGB: I agree with your observation. A younger mind is easily distracted and one is curious about new things. With time we get selective and tend to drill deeper into areas of interest.

The expression in my current works reflects that sense of sobriety. This body of work certainly was more an exercise in introspection unlike the Elvis Presley phase which had an outward and vibrant exuberance.

But then again, I could be painting Travolta next week…

JML: Time and again it is said that your works have miniature kind of precision and quality. However, I would say that the new works are in larger formats and they contain a grand scale. May be I can say that they look more like controlled murals. Could you please explain and correct me if I am wrong?

MGB: I definitely have been inspired by our miniature and mural traditions and I am now exploring the practice of these in other cultures and civilizations.

I never painted miniatures and nor am I now painting murals consciously. The only thing that changed in my work process recently was moving to a big studio that allowed me to paint on a larger format.

JML: When I said murals, something definite was in my mind. Let me tell you this contained grandeur of your works reminds me, including the colour scheme that you have employed in some of them, of the Mexican Murals. Also I can refer to the early works of A.Ramachandran (Kali Puja etc) in this context. You have always deemed him as your Guru. Is there any connection in adopting to the ‘mural feeling’ in your works with your association with A.Ramachandran and Mexican murals?

MGB: The Mexican murals have been inspirational for Mr Ramchandran and he had introduced me to the works of the great Mexican muralists. I like the works of Diego Rivera in particular but my favorite Mexican artist is Rivera’s wife and a non-muralist, Frida Kahlo.

I have merely scaled up to a bigger format which you mentioned has acquired a mural-like proportion. This is not a conscious effort - but you may have sowed the seed of an idea!

JML: Sometimes, it becomes obligatory to ask you, as you are a woman artist, about your gender politics. Do you contemplate on gender politics when you work? I have a specific reason to ask you because one of your works titled ‘Erendira’ reminds me of a long story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Innocent Erendira and Other Stories) where he discusses the life of a young prostitute. Your work also shows a theatre, which I would call a theatrical body, which corresponds to a voluptuous female body. Could you please comment?

MGB: I avoid any political or sociological messages in my work. I am a creative individual driven from an inner need and desire to create. What comes out obviously stems from my experiences of the outside and inside.

Erendira was a play I saw in Delhi, directed by Amal Allana. I happened to complete the canvas a few days after the performance. Every time I saw the finished work, it reminded me of the play. I still have not read Garcia’s story though.

What I find fascinating is how Amal’s theatrical interpretation of Garcia’s 'written piece and my painterly interpretation of Amal’s play connect emotionally.

Erendira is in the work somewhere – more in spirit than in form.

JML: Consciously or subconsciously you create a grid between the focal image and the surrounding layers. These surrounding layers function as a further grid between the work of art and the viewer. This demands an effort from the viewer to ‘enter’ into the painting. How do you look at your own grid creations?

MGB: The grid or the portal into my work is not created through method. I do however, recognize them in the larger works after they are completed.

Since this grid is not a conscious construction, I can’t say if it facilitates or denies entry for the viewer. I want my works to be open and inviting to all.

JML: I am fascinated by the simplicity of the mediums that you have employed in your works. You use them with a lot of care and passion. Why tea wash, gouache, dry pastel, water colour etc?

MGB: At this point in time of my creative expression, I do not feel the need to experiment with new mediums. I have used pencil colours and dry pastels after a gap of almost 6 years and these conventional media have been like a new experience.

I am working on some unconventional or ‘new’ medium and when they do when they 'do' enter my visual space, they too will enter with care and passion. I love photography and it could well be part of my work format soon.

JML: You have used the image of an ultra sound (taken especially during the pregnancy period) in your works. They look totally detached from the other images. Could you please explain this arbitrary choice? If there is a deliberation in this selection, please tell more about it.

MGB: The image of the ultra sound was used in my work when I was expecting my first child. That experience is like no other and I suppose that may have created the distinctness in this work. I have kept the work for my son.

When I started working on my space series inspired by astronomical imagery, I flipped the fan shaped image of the ultrasound and used the dark grainy background to create space-scapes.

JML: Where do you locate yourself in the creative act; in the dream world that you depict or the actual world that helps you to reach to your dream world? I just want to confuse you by asking this question. Please confuse me with your answer.

MGB: I am in the twilight zone.

It is tempting to have a disdain for the mundane reality of life and the creative person often carries a license to do this. Playing mom to two growing kids and wife to a husband with his corporate duties, besides the various roles that are required by society can take it’s toll. But the moment I enter my studio, I can transform my world.

It is all a matter of conscious choice – and a little bit of magic…