An illustrated (diary style) Scroll made during a sabbatical trip to INDIA in 1989 Supported by Glasgow School of Art
Study visit to India Jan – March 1989
My interest in Indian culture and philosophy goes back to when, as a student, I referred to texts like A.K. Coomeraswamy’s ‘Transformation of Nature into Art’ as an adjunct to my practice in painting. But at the time, I failed to develop a sympathy with Indian visual art to the same extent.
I have worked in painting since leaving college and recently the paintings have become more and more concerned with qualities of surface and form.
Over the last three or four years an empathy towards Indian Art has been re-awakened through a new appreciation of and practice of Sculpture. The excitement of learning to work in new methods and materials has generated the desire for fresh impetus and experience to inform new projects in my own work and in my teaching.
Principal intentions;
(1.) I am interested in studying Classical Indian Temple sculpture of predominantly Hindu culture, and in particular, the embodiment of benevolent spiritual qualities in the supple fullness and rounded volumes of the figures. ‘Centuries of Indian sculpture have conveyed the idea of inwardly held breath which is identified with the sap of life’ (i)
(2.) I am also curious to see how contemporary Indian artists are facing the dichotomy between their tradition and the western concept of modernism. ‘Now when it is said, how can the Indian artist be truly modern, it is from the premise that the Indian tradition discourages individualism and this is the very core of the modern consciousness’. (ii)
(3.) Having only recently started to work in ceramic on a small scale, but with ambitions to make slightly over life-size ceramic figures; I am interested in seeing examples of the large-scale clay figures which are made for specific festivals and village ceremonies, but which have no lasting value and therefore have to be continually re-made. I would be interested to see how such ancient crafts are still evident and to what extent modern industrially produced materials may be replacing traditional ones.
(4.) On return, I intend to mount a photographic exhibition, documenting the visit, in the Glasgow School of Art and in the longer term, I hope the experience will inspire new work in both sculpture and painting perhaps related together environmentally.
(i)Sheena Wagstaff; Dhruva Mistry, Catalogue Essay, Kettles Yard.
(ii)Geeta Kapur; Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Art