Monumental is the word that comes to mind when you look at artist Jagannath Panda’s recent works on view at the Vadehra Art Gallery in Delhi. Echoes of the Unfathomed World—from which the exhibition draws its name—is a majestic canvas, 6.5 ft X 16 ft. The blue acrylic surface has fabric pasted on it with glue. From afar it looks like a multi-coloured cosmos with vibrant flowers—or centres of cosmic energy.
On close inspection, one can make out the different fabrics that the Delhi artist has used to create the many petals of the flowers. Lean in and you can see delicate drawings of figures in motion embedded into the work. “These figures came to me after I had completed the painting. I thought it needed a little more detailing,” says the 54-year-old.
The artist uses diverse materials to explore nature through the 26 works on display. So don’t be surprised if you find Lego blocks and toy car parts, plastic beads or puzzle pieces merging with papier mache, wall paper, plywood cutouts and even paddy. Collage-making has always been a part of Panda’s artistic process; an intricate mosaic of myths and shapes.
“My work is all about material explorations. I want to strike a conversation between meditative consciousness (prakriti) and manifested changes (vikriti). I want to reflect on material as an immortal product, something that watches over humans. It’s my way of bringing a collective energy on to the canvas. I have also used cut-outs from almanacs and a how-to gardening book, making my practice appear more like craft-making,” he says.
The tenets of architecture creep into his works. In ochre and royal blue, one of the works—Gardener of the World II—resembles a totem, or a robo-cop, if you please. Panda thinks otherwise. “My aim here is to show the evolution of society—how it rises from the ground strewn with artefacts of the past,” he says. The second painting in the series—Gardener of the World I—depicts Vishnu in the cosmos, and makes use of fabric. “I use textiles to give the illusion of a fossilised surface.
Fabric brings in varied representations—the region it belongs to, the texture it creates, the motifs used. Textiles from different states—Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and more—reflect what we are and where we have reached. Despite the differences, a common thread binds us all together. I want to talk about all this. It gives me great pleasure to be able to incorporate this diversity in my works,” says the artist who completed an MFA in sculpture from the Royal College of Arts London after his graduation from MS University, Baroda.
The artist’s better half—Pranati—is known for her installations using threads and fabrics. Did her practice impact his use of textiles? “Maybe. After all, it’s natural that our individual mannerisms would impact the other over the years, given that we share the same space. Unlike her works, however, in mine the spiritual and material worlds come together. The way we look at textiles is completely different, though we have mentored each other to some extent,” he says as he touches the rough edges of a fabric standing out 3D-like from the canvas.
Echoes of the Unfathomed World Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi Till January 19