Veiling Truth in Pretty Parables
Piyali Ghosh |
Piyali Ghosh is all ready for the exhibition of her recent works in Chatterjee and Lal Gallery in Mumbai from 6th September to19th September 2007 and had a preview at the Fine Arts Faculty,M.S.U.Baroda. Her approach reminds of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ where the animals become the main characters through which the political structure was satirized. Piyali Ghosh speaks to Aparna Roy about her works and ideas that drive her towards her visual productions. Excerpts:
Aparna Roy: The old world charm of the colonial era is being mocked continuously through quirky exotic imageries in your works .What evoked such imageries?
Piyali Ghosh: 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.
AR: Yes, I could see that the idea of desire and commoditization becomes important in your work—in fact there is a painting where your self portrait is seen being carried in the same bag with certain other commodities .How do you relate to it?
PG: I try to be a viewer and see things objectively but in actuality it’s impossible .The structure is such that you become a victim .We often forget the difference between need and greed .Whenever our need is fulfilled and we want more that becomes greed. I have shown the veiled car with dogs craving for it or the strong and the powerful over-powering the weak and making them the victims of their desire.
AR: You have mainly showed these with the help of animals or animal like figures.What led you to such imageries?
PG: 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.
AR: Somewhere I also found the references to fables and Sukumar Roy’s humour emerging in a satirical mode through these animals. Do you draw inspirations from them or any other literary sources?
PG: As for the literary references of Sukumar Roy, the familiarity with the wonder land of the absurd in which one finds the hansh jharu, that is the clubbing of the duck and the hedgehog or the stories like the rich tiger coming to the village and marrying a poor man’s daughter, which is by his father Upendrakishore Roy Chowdhury always made a deep impact on me as a child. I referred to it in one of my paintings to show that if one has the power and wealth one can dare to possess anything. Folk tales, folk-lore, fables and newspaper incidents also influence my imagination.
AR: Along with these animals you often show your self- portraits--is this a kind of narcissism or a participatory act you want to perform in your own paintings?
PG: More than narcissism it’s like imagining oneself in the same situation as the characters of the painting .
AR: You often veil your portraits and use curtains as if to welcome the viewers to the fables which you churn out. Do you want to use curtains as a theatrical device or as a veil which is an integral part of the female life? Does being a woman influence your work?
PG: 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?
AR: Why does tempera as a medium dominate your works?
PG: The murals with their bright hues and monumentality attract me so tempera as a medium naturally becomes my favourite. I like the temperament of that medium. It suits the bright colours I use, subdues it and gives it a matt effect and not a jazzy one. Though acrylic is also used by me tempera is more associated to my theme which is based on the Indian context.
AR: What about the bright hues?
PG: I like the conflict of primary and tertiary colours. This kind of colour rendering goes well with the humour of my works. The murals I saw in Rajasthan, Kerala and Ajanta also inspired me.
AR: I have seen that the design patterns or motifs are actually some figures like a tiger pouncing on the deer. Is there any other purpose or meaning that they carry?
PG: My designs are not merely patterns but they carry meanings .They are actually characters playing their respective roles in my paintings.
AR: How do you conceive your drawings?
PG: 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.
AR: Do you perceive any change from your earlier works? What is your own opinion about your own recent works?
PG: As for the change I won’t say that this is all new, but they are all related to each other. Only the interpretations may change. My recent works are also a past for me now .I am just full of new ideas for my next pictorial venture.
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