Piyali Ghosh
Piyali Ghosh |
(Excerpts from Piyali Ghosh’s interview published in www.artconcerns.com)
Being born and brought up in Kolkata one always confronts with the colonial heritage either through the city’s cultural environment or through distant kinship. The cynical environment of the decadent babu culture/landed gentry still has a lurking presence in Bengal. The anomalies of their lifestyle and their way of masquerading power provoke my images. I see the contemporary politicians as only a reformulation of these power hungry feudal lords. All of them lure the common people, make promises to fulfill their dreams, come to power and forget them. They plunge into the world of pleasure.
In one of my paintings these power hankering politicians are seen quiet absorbed in fulfilling their desires with backdrops having sentries who give protection to them. While actually they are mere canon fodders who are showered with felicitations for martyrdom and soon forgotten. They are mere backdrops for the monstrous presence of the gluttons. The servile bootlickers are all the more deceptive than their superiors and can change colours as frequently as they need. They can go to any extent to please their higher authorities and enjoy the undue privileges showered upon them.
The animal instinct is still there deep within us.We always hear that man is a social animal, this saying has various implications for me. To adjust or fit in the social norms one has to continuously garb their desires sophisticatedly and in a more strategic way. Where as the animals reflect their desires more directly. I feel I could express myself well if I were an animal. Therefore there are also anthropomorphic animals. The Tiger is not only shown for it’s physical prowess but also because of it’s association with power as the ruler of the jungle. It is licking the deer in a very fond way as if it is love struck but in reality the tiger is the consumer and the deer is the victim.
My paintings are like acts from a big theatrical production .The curtains are like welcome notes to the viewers and ushers each scene. Moreover they stand for the opacity and hideousness which we face in life. There are different types of veils, with my portraits or even as handkerchiefs used by the monstrous male to hide his lascivious smile.
The socially constructed gender differences /discriminations definitely influence me. Thus comes the usage of veils almost transparent but ever-present .Though we think things have changed and taboos have disappeared it has actually changed its forms. Commoditization of the women as an object of desire and considering them as the other is still prevalent. I have imagined in one of my paintings where man and woman are seen sleeping and in both of their wombs they carry babies. There is an urge to change the power equation, perhaps subvert it. How would it be if this idea of thinking the women as a reproductive machine change?
I had a thorough grounding in academic drawing in the Indian College of arts and Draughtsmanship, Kolkata which helped me study things more closely .The drawings evolve from my academic training and also in response to the medium of tempera. I like to work minutely right from the detailed hairline to the bold contours. The lines carry emotions, they curve, bend along with the changing sentiments. |
