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Chennai based artist Vasudha Thozhur was trained in the College of Arts& Crafts, Chennai and Croydon School of Art & Design , UK . I love how she has separate sections within her paintings cordoned off with a whole other set of symbols and metaphors. It's interesting when artists do that because it's really more of a literary tradition. However, there is a thread of similarity that runs through all of her paintings unifying them to the extent that if I were re-assemble the sections, they probably wouldn't affect the final interpretations.
Here's a question: how do you go about finding all these artists? Is there some forum? Gallery websites? Or are you an art world insider...
ReplyDeleteYohan,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there is a forum. This is sort of one , don't you think? And as for the other two, it's a little bit of both.
Cool! An art world insider! I don't believe I've ever known one.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess this is a forum of sorts. We must have more arty chatter though. For starters, what does this mean: "she has separate sections within her paintings cordoned off with a whole other set of symbols and metaphors"?
Yohan,
ReplyDeletewhat do you think it means? (with her art in context ofcourse)
Ooh. Trying the didactic approach eh?
ReplyDeleteOkay. It wasn't clear to me if the poly-paneled works were one painting or several. It is also unclear to me what literary tradition you're referring to. Examples would help.
Nope, just curious because it's very self explanatory !
ReplyDeleteTwo of those are a single piece of work each. One is a combination of two different paintings. I was refering to vignettes or even instances in poetry where there are two or more separate , disconnected verses that don't go through a gradual progression & yet are connected by context .
I feel like I'm being interrogated. :P
Ah, now I understand. the word "vignette" makes sense to me. And The Hollow Men might be a poem that fits your description.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to sound interrogative. But one thing I've learnt is that very little is self-evident or self-explanatory -- most of all in the world of criticism.
Phew!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes a lot of Eliot's work is very organic in nature. I'm not very familiar with The Hollow Men though. I'll check it out.
an insider, aah! that explains it -I often wondered how you got wind of all these amazing artists. But as an insider do you ever feel a little jaded or disappointed by the inner workings of it all? I work in photography/digital imaging/art-related things, and my encounters with artists have left me feeling very disillusioned, I have to say! They are sometimes the meanest, most manipulative and selfish people I've met, creative talents not withstanding. Maybe indian artists are nicer ppl...
ReplyDeleteback to these - the structure of them is intriguing - I think the literary reference is apt, as they seem geared more towards a mode of continuous narrative, rather than having a single work that opens up with the viewer. I don't often like a very heavy handed use of symbols etc in visual art, it sometimes feels stultifying, but the hyper-real, dreamlike richness of the colours opens another dimension, beyond the simply literal references.They also, in style and form, remind me a lot of comics - the second panel with the bed and woman feels like it should be featured in 'Heroes' as one of Isaac's! and they also bring to mind Francis Bacon's triptychs.
I'm always fascinated when works of art are presented in this way -whether it's a collection of objects, a set of paintings, or a collection of stories. It allows a different dynamic to emerge, an exchange or conversation between its various elements... a continuous state of flux which is more engaging...
HM , I do have an arts background and a lot of the work I do is for the art industry but I seldom post about artists I've worked with. I'm afraid I just never get the exciting ones. In trying to be as diplomatic as possible, the only disappointing thing about knowing some of them in real life is that they can be pretty dull and not very exciting at all. A lot of them are very insecure and there is an INSANE amount of politics which is why I am turning to newer artists who havn't had the chance to get all old and bitter! (wait, I don't think that was diplomatic at all, hehe)But with all due respect I also have to say some of them are blissfully unaware (or rather don't care) for their 'celebrity' status and are very chilled out , candid , delightful ppl.
ReplyDeleteI do see the Francis Bacon influence , perhaps the artist was inspired by him , but it's not extremely evident . For one Francis Bacon's work has a more intense almost disturbingly haunting quality about them. I do see the element of mystery in both though.
And I am totally with you on being fascinated by art presented in this manner. One of my favourite movies ever is Paris, Je T'aime. A lot of people hated the non linear, non structural , lack-of-continuous-narrative approach but I absolutely loved it.
Very powerful work! and i enjoyed reading the comments I must confess :) I've often felt that in art and poetry the interpretations are sometimes far more complex than the artists' intent. Not saying that is the case here. Sometimes a work of art is born out of an unnamed spontaniety that defies articulation- and all critics ever do is articulate :) and here Im not referring to u as critic here :)
ReplyDeleteVineeta,
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have a point here. Creativity is often like you mentioned an action of spontaneity that defies articulation. I have to say it's human nature to pick things apart and art is a very good representation of one's psyche and I guess thats where the critics come in . Arguably, the creative process itself (as unbriddled as it may be) is often represented in a very conscious , deliberate manner. In fact with the exception of Surrealism, almost everything goes through a process of fine tuning and editing. It is in this fine tuning that the artistic intention comes forth and therefore open to interpretation (whether the artist likes it or not) BTW I could go ON and ON about this but I really do not want to be a bore .
:)
i loved Paris, Je T'aime too! :) ahhh.....so nice. And I love this artists work too....i think its the colours that do it for me. Really like her use of colour...wow. And the symbols/icons on the side kind of give it a nav bar feel like on a web page :D nice and fresh!
ReplyDeleteu too have a point :)
ReplyDelete