PADAV: DAY 4

 Individual Technical Sessions: With Mentor on their Art

One of the primary goals of the mentor is to review the previous work of each fellow, assess their comfort zones, natural inclination, any consistency or pattern that are there. The other part is listening to their story of practice, what comes easy, what is difficult, how much time they spent on their work etc. And then observe them while they are at work. See their layout, strokes, choice of colours and guide them whenever it is appropriate.

Session 2: Art Journey of Jagmohan (Part 2)

In part one, Jagmohan discussed his art journey up to New Delhi, 2005.  It highlighted ups and downs and growth of the works he was producing then. His art can be put in the broader category of largely figurative works. Since, most of the current fellow’s work reflected figurative work only, it was decided to take up the transition from figurative to abstract in part 2 of the presentation. Splitting presentation in two, resolved confusions (noticed in previous workshops) where in some fellows became contemplative, and couldn’t pick up the brush to get feedback on their individual work.

So, while first part of journey was designed to motivate and help fellows exercise their full potential as artists, the second part of Jagmohan’s journey was to inspire fellows to dream more Jagmohan shared second part of his journey that began at Winchester School of Art, in United Kingdom while pursuing a master’s degree in painting. Till then, he had already developed a significant body of work with some commercial success, he thought journey onwards would be a relaxed and expected to refine his skills in this new environment.

However, contrary to expectations, within first couple of weeks, Jagmohan realized the challenge. His professors showed little interest in his current artwork and pushed him to produce new art. The education format was very different, fellow students could critique his work, he was given references to read, or to study other artist’s work. While at the workshop, there was the constant pressure to create. This pressure pushed Jagmohan towards finding his own unique artistic language. It was revealed to him in his darkest recess when he cried out for his mother ‘Maa’ and wrote it repeatedly on the canvas. Surprisingly, next morning, it got the nod of the professor to explore it further.

Once the despair is lifted, the strokes became confident, and another journey began into the trance, rhythm, colours and forms of text in his art. This continues to evolve gradually in subsequent years when he returned to Delhi. These nuanced shift were beautifully captured by Jagmohan in his presentation through slide show of select art works and their link with related happening or states of mind.  

Session 3: Art Journey of Punam Sharma

Delhi-based painter, Punam Sharma, usually experiments with different medium and her work is pure abstraction. After her formal MFA degree, she moved from oil on canvas to paper and enjoyed abstractions, seldom using colours & brush. A few years back, she has developed a unique style with paper-on-paper and textile on other mediums. She is also a passionate art teacher, who even draw a lot from observing how art takes unpredictable shapes in young hands.

Punam’s presentation contrasted with Jagmohan’s arduous journey, focusing on the exploration of art from a vantage perspective. Drawing from childhood ideas and impressions, as well as observed experiences, this approach involves navigating the abstract mind space to arrange and examine various layers, effects, and contrasts. The significance of this presentation lies in emphasizing that there is no single path for artists. Each individual must move towards their own unique exploration process. However, one should take it as an advice, to exhaust all the possibilities as one moves from one body of work to another.  For an artist, this is a continuous journey.