Kolkata-based Jayashree Chakravarty's recent works to be exhibited at Akar Prakar, Delhi

Jayashree Chakravarty's works arrive at a deep understanding of nature through continuous observation
The Nature Whispers (Oil, acrylic, jute, leaf, cotton,  paper on canvas) 2018
The Nature Whispers (Oil, acrylic, jute, leaf, cotton, paper on canvas) 2018

Prakar, Delhi is set to host an exhibition of Kolkata-based artist Jayashree Chakravarty's recent works. The exhibition, titled A Wired Ecology, will host 12 works by the 62-year-old artist, all of which have nature as the pervading theme.

Jayashree's works visually record the different changes that nature goes through. The swampy marshland of Salt Lake, where she spent a considerable amount of time, has deeply impacted her work. She visually documents the gradual change of the marshland into a ‘concrete jungle'.

<em>Wired Ecology (Oil, acrylic, paper, audio tape, seeds, cotton, jute on canvas) 2018</em>
Wired Ecology (Oil, acrylic, paper, audio tape, seeds, cotton, jute on canvas) 2018

“Jayashree is connected to nature in a way that few understand. It is amazing to see how she transcends her love for nature through her art. She laments, cries, complains about the degenerating and changing face of nature in her art - only to lead us to finally see the ultimate beauty of life and nature, of patience, perseverance, strength and tenacity of our earth, of life forms and of life,” says Reena Lath, director of Akar Prakar

Her works are not fuelled by imagination, but a deep understanding of nature. She translates visible changes and arrives at an understanding of the details, which culminate into knowledge over a concentrated period of time. “When I was in college, I used to go to one spot several times, to see what is changing. It is a way of reading one place. At that time, I didn’t understand what I was doing, but now I understand that I was reading each and every line in nature. I used to read the texture and even the colour, which was in harmony with nature,” explains Jayashree.

<em>Regenerative Nature (Acrylic, paper, thread, leaf, jute, oil on canvas) 2018</em>
Regenerative Nature (Acrylic, paper, thread, leaf, jute, oil on canvas) 2018

She uses a lot of organic materials such as, mud, jute, coffee dust, leaves, dry flowers or twigs, thread, cotton, egg shells and acrylic to create her layered works. The exhibition will showcase Shelters, Wired Ecology, Regenerative Nature, Surviving Energy, and the The Nature Whispers, among other works. While the first, Shelters, induces an imagery of a nest, the second, Wired Ecology, focuses on the common patterns of stems, creepers, leafless trunks against the sky and roots, which create an impression of a netted pattern, common across the different elements of nature. Surviving Energy beautifully depicts how a plant creates and locks energy within itself from water, through the use of oil, acrylic, cotton, leaf and jute on canvas. The most eye-catching work would be The Nature Whispers, which almost gives a 3D effect of four birds standing on the feet of only two. The outline of one bird overlaps the other, each emerging out of different shades, made of yellow, white, black and coffee intermingling together. 

<em>Shelters</em> <em>(Acrylic, paper, thread, leaf, roots, oil on canvas) 2018</em>
Shelters (Acrylic, paper, thread, leaf, roots, oil on canvas) 2018

Although she has been working on the same theme for 42 years, her work ceases to be repetitive. “I don’t shift my focus. It’s the same theme, but the ideas keep shifting from one thing to another, and become more and more detailed. It’s like a continuation of understanding,” offers Jayashree.

A Wired Ecology: Recent works by Jayashree Chakravarty to start at Akar Prakar, Delhi from January 28 – February 22, 2019.

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