‘Home and Beyond’ is the latest solo exhibition of Chameli
Ramachandran at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. Chameli has always been a
mono-chromatic artist who loves to work with Chinese ink and to add a little turbulence
to it a dash of watercolor. Turbulence cannot be and shouldn’t be a word to
qualify any aspect of the artist for her presence itself is a defined absence;
so subtle is the presence of this artist that it could create the turbulence
that the petals of a flower could create on its own. So, the turbulence that I
am talking about is one that has been created by the flower petals, the pigeons’
wings, winds that passing through the lean trees and the snow flakes. Chameli
is a worshipper of natural elements, a pagan with a lot of refinement with an
Oriental serenity pervading all aspects of her life. In this show, she has done
ninety works on paper and it is a tour de force. Considering Chameli’s age and
physical frailty due to it, it is a rare achievement.
(work by Chameli Ramachandran)
When I see the works for the first time (though I have been
following her works for the last two and half decades each time I see a new
body of works it gives me the feeling of seeing them for the first time) what I
think is nothing but the expression ‘what an indomitable spirit’! Despite age,
Chameli has done something that only a very healthy mind could do. The mind that
is the channelizing force behind her works, exactly the way nature goads her to
let it flow through her with all its subtleties, is alert and receptive which
always say that whatever she sees could be turned into an isolated piece of
visual. The excising process involved in looking and seeing by this artist is
very important because even if she has been living in the city of Delhi for
quite some time (and in Kerala and North America during the winters), what she
sees are the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sky, the flowers and the winds.
This is a selective viewing, which is made possible by age and wisdom; perhaps
she has been gifted with this ever since she was born.
Born to a Chinese scholarly couple who came to Viswabharati
University to teach, Chameli was named so by none other than Rabindranath
Tagore. In one of the utterances by the artist herself, currently available in
the public domain, she says that the name ‘Chameli’ was given by Tagore himself
as it was vogue in those days that the parents took their infants to Tagore so
that he could give them the right name. Chameli was given that name because
Tagore said that the Chinese names had three syllables, so was the name
Cha-Me-Li. Chameli grew up to love Tagore’s poems and philosophy perhaps never
wearing it in her sleeves like many others do. After a short break due to
familial responsibilities Chameli took up painting again only to do several
solo exhibitions and group participations. ‘Home and Beyond’ has the works done
in the present year.
The works present could be categorized into four sections;
flowers, leaves, trees and landscapes. As I have mentioned before, Chameli
deliberately excises the scenes that are not palatable to her. One perhaps
wouldn’t come across an architectural form or even a human form in the works of
Chameli. I do not know whether her sketchbooks contain such figures and forms.
But in the public expositions of her works, she chooses to present only the
works created out of the ‘natural’ images. Is it because that the artist wants
to avoid the other scenes and figures from her works? Or is it because the
artist prefers to live in a romantic world where she always finds in the
company of flowers and trees? What could be the driving philosophy behind it?
According to me, when Chameli paints/draws these images from the nature, she
does not avoid any instead in these trees, flowers and landscapes she find the
whole that includes all other animate and inanimate beings and objects.
This is a kind of nature worship that does not have a prayer
book or a holy text, nor is it constituted by a cult or a group of worshippers
doing the same and moving towards the same goal. In this highly personalized
genre of art, Chameli even hides the scientific precision so that a botanist
also could be thrown off balance. She does not leave any surety about anything.
She presents a slice of nature the way she perceives it and takes all the
pleasure in doing so because she finds the whole in it. Each painting done in a
somber mood embodies a world and the specificities of locations are also erased
from them. In her earlier paintings the pigeons could be from anywhere in the
world; in the present body of works, the trees, flowers, leaves and landscapes
could be from anywhere. The landscapes, however are seen a bit exotic as such
landscapes cannot be visualized by one and all unless and until he/she
privileged to see such landscapes.
Chameli has used a lot of sepia tone in her earlier works.
But in the present body of works, she uses predominantly the black ink wash
that makes the bodies of the works so transparent exactly the way old age makes
one body transparent and luminous, showing the veins running like tired rivers
beneath the undulating landscape of skin. The flowers are agile and fresh and
they show the vigor and happiness of being alive. However, the leaves are tired
and wilting. There is a silent storm passing through the trees and they are
ready to bend. One may be surprised to see that there is not a single tree in
Chameli’s present body of works that stands straight. Every tree is caught by
strong winds and is ready to bend. Chameli’s body feels the pressure of time
and she transports them to her images. The invisible wind therefore becomes
symbolic and the bending woods and branches become quite emblematic of human
condition.
The landscapes are snow clad and there is no green to be
seen. It is quite Chekhovian. One could see invisible pathways lined by
turbulent trees. One could also see dormant grass and tolerant shrubs standing
subdued under the pressure of the snow. Interestingly, Chameli does not give
any clue of snow and its softy barrenness. But the silence that is pervading
her whitish landscapes with dark patches for grass, the undulating expanse and
the glass like sky give us the feeling of stillness; a stillness that one feels
when one accidently steps into a precarious scenario. There is no danger
apparent but there is no security either. And the only way to overcome that
feeling is to absorb and make the scene a part of your own existence. That’s
what exactly Chameli does in her new body of works.
If I write any word like ‘meditative’ it will suddenly fall
into the rut of religious spiritualism. In Chameli the spiritual feeling that
one gets is not of a religious kind; it is of a focus and depth. If you are
excited for anything, witnessing Chameli’s works would put you into a sense of
tranquility. The stillness is infectious. It is said that Chinese painters
painted landscapes for meditative purposes. They were like spiritual martial
artists perfecting the strokes with ink and brush on paper. Chameli has that ‘sanskar’
in her; the element of focus and depth towards perfection. That’s also one
reason why she sticks to the Chinese ink and brush. During the last half a
century or so, she could have used any other medium or material to diversify
her creativity. She stuck to one and became very proficient in that. Only when
you are in love with what you do, you could continue it for long even when it
is not liquidating itself for riches. Only when you see the whole world
reflected in a drop of dew you could conserve it for you feel that you live in
that dew. There is a good thing about living inside the dew; you become as small
as that, as precious, as tender, as subtle, constantly reflecting the universe
in you. Chameli is that dew drop; very precious in Indian art.
No comments:
Post a Comment