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The Truth of Chaotic Surfaces
Mekhala Bahl had a few successful exhibitions in the recent past. Her works are noticed for the abstract verve and curious titles. Akansha Rastogi in this informal interview chats with the artist to reveal the artist’s working style and perspective on art.
Akansha Rastogi: Hi Mekhla, I don’t have any prepared questions for you. All I have is some points and observations. So, it is going to be a dialogue and not an interview.
Mekhla Bahl: Yes, lets begin.
AR: Okay. Let us sit somewhere in the studio and chat.
MB: Sure…
AR: I would like to have a look at your figurative works.
MB: My figurative work belongs to many many years ago and I will need to spend some time looking for it in my studio. Meanwhile I could show you representational images that occur in my current work, and involve remnants of my past work and influences.
AR: Let’s not jump onto your works directly. I had a look at your resume at the back of the catalogue of your recently held solo exhibition at Alliance Franciase – it shows an impressive exposure to different art-scenarios during your grounding years of art-education in Delhi College of Art, and then France, Italy, Japan and U.S.A. I think that your education abroad has had a great impact on your experiences and works, in terms of formulating your visual vocabulary.
MB: AsI work more from memory, images slowly develop in my mind. Unusual, seemingly unfamiliar marks and shapes that occur in my work could be interpretative of my travels. My next experience away is in New York for a residency, which I am sure will influence my work in a way that is true to the character of the city.
AR: I mean your works resemble the school of Abstract Expressionists, the spontaneity, instinctual painting. If you were to compare your works and your peers during college days…
MB: When I was at College of Art, Delhi, everybody was experimenting, and even more so is true for my peers abroad. The need to work with new and different media was and still is very exciting for us.
AR: I am quite fascinated by your titles, especially when most abstract artists prefer to change the adjective ‘untitled’ into a noun “untitled”.
MB: I don’t think that “most” abstract artists title their works as ‘untitled’. I search in the work for an element or reference to a memory. For instance, the painting, ‘In the kitchen’, simply lay in my college kitchenette for a few months before completion, because of the lack of space, and for this reason the title followed. The title also serves as effective reminder for me of the time period, city or mood of the work. People relate to a work differently after seeing the title, and I don’t have a problem with that, in fact it stirs the imagination of the viewer in a way that is sometimes quite interesting.
AR: Your titles trigger an instant recognition with an idea, or an image, like ‘Church’, ‘Chocolate’, ‘Red Pram’, etc. They assure the viewer of a representational element but a glance at the work corresponding with the title is enough to suggest that there is no immediate recognition to be found. The viewer gets aware of the distance; I would call it a chasm, between the representative title and the abstract work.
MB: My works are based on representational thoughts, daily experiences, images and moods which are specific, non-abstract, sometimes even explicit. The fact that the title may signify a representational element, implies that whether the viewer is able to see it or not, it is located/ hidden within the work. The abstract surface has concrete images underneath it which are usually only hinted at by the title of the work which may also serve as an entry point.
AR: Your works are bold in terms of the combination Of various materials – cloth, paper, foam, and media such as – painting, lithography, etching, chine colle, creating stratified layers, and complicating the process of creation manifolds. In this manner, the spatial area of artistic expression, i.e. your canvas, passes through several stages, and finally amounts to coded moments as you work and re-work it through.
MB: Material and process consistently guide my work. For example, if I am using thicker paint, its application on the canvas must be true to its texture. I allow the material to determine its use, while depending on its qualities. My philosophy is that I cannot ever be afraid of experimenting, and this is when I feel my work can begin to be termed as bold, as I don’t feel there should or can be any restriction imposed on the work or the artist.
AR: Longevity of your works also comes under question. Using so many materials, does that affects the life of the work of art?
MB: Longevity is very important. When one uses a combination of media, it is crucial to be absolutely aware of its practical qualities and/ or limitations – oil and water-based media must only be used in the correct order, collage must only employ archival glue etc.
During my education, I was taught quite extensively about the use and the need to work with archival methods and material, to ensure that the work of art is safe for a very long period of time.
AR: “Chaotic surfaces”, is the term Roobina Karode uses for your works in the catalogue essay of ‘Anecdote’. Your textures have an evocative quality. They command a closer look, and appear as independent entities in their own right. But these elements when looked from a distance they resonate differently…
MB: The textures, surfaces and drawings in my works are treated with secretive details only identifiable from close and these same images transform into simpler shapes, marks and blocks of colour when viewed from a distance. I don’t think it necessary for the viewer to know that there are small sketches and imagery that is more recognizable than abstract. I find that my work can be viewed as both, or either. |
