Sayanee Sarkar compels the viewer to stop by her art, observe it, read it thoroughly and then understand what she tries to express. This young artist, whose ongoing solo exhibition, Alchemy of Absolute Intimacy, at Emami Art is already winning hearts, presents a unique style of work. What can easily be mistaken for abstract art, or even marbled art, are actually distinctive figures on a monotone, soak-stained canvas. Her work is definitely not one that should be seen or glanced at. It is one of those rarities that require you to become one with the canvas and understand expressionism through newer art techniques.
Inspired by the American abstract expressionist painter, Sayanee gives us a glimpse of her technique. She says, “I got the process of soak stain from Helen Frankenthaler. Thereafter, I started staining the canvas where some part of the colour remains inside the fabric and some on the surface, forming markers which help me progress further with my work.”
Looking at the gallery walls, one would find large or small canvases of neutral and muted shades like yellow, brown, light pink, pastel greens and one or two instances of deeper colours. We asked her about the choice of her lighter palette. She mentions, “I use diluted acrylic paints. So if I overdo it, then it will become really stiff, and the flow that I get in the diluted colours won’t be there.”
Moreover, the curation includes the artist’s preliminary sketches. It gives the viewer a complete idea of how the artist works, or at least worked, through this series. First, the idea, then the preliminary sketches, and then finally comes the actual work on canvas.
Her works present an almost poetic understanding of the body, its gestures and the gaze by challenging the norms. The translucent hues and monochromes further blend the forms with the canvas, as if they emerge out of a dream sequence. The ability to separate them from the canvas and weave meaning into it lies entirely with the viewer and their individual perspective. And this is what makes her art unique and interactive, as it deals with the space in between.
Alchemy of Absolute Intimacy is on till July 10.
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