For instance the painting by Sandeep Mani which displays tent-pegging will familiarise the viewer with the passing of the sport; similarly the painting of a steam engine by KishorePartim Biswas who has used striking colours to bring the atmosphere alive of the time when steam engines were used can leave the audience resplendent with an era gone by.
Amrita Varma, the founder of Egg Art and curator of the shows tells Guardian 20 what fascinated her into choosing the particular artists. “I chose the artists after looking at most of the works by artists. Having worked as an art advisor previously, I use that experience here.”
The exhibition features a total of 18 Indian artists and their impressions of the mind and the senses are reflected in the landscapes at the exhibition. Varma says, “The artist’s eye looks at the world as he experiences it and in doing so adds subtle dimensions of meaning and sensations to that world. Some of the works are of the inner minds adventures with the world outside and tend to be imaginary fragments of the real. Some are real but if you look carefully, you will witness the fragments of fascination over the elements in the landscape and people as a part of that visual story. In every element there is that grace, there is the love for life and its bounty, there is movement and there is joy.”
Veteran Kashmiri artist Masood Hussain who has recently made digital art to capture the plight of children blinded by the pellets has presented the paintings of a peaceful and splendid Kashmir in the exhibition. He says, “I have painted the landscape of Gurez valley for Lands Within. That is the area I go to find a sense of calm. That is a border area and one has to take permission to go there. As everyone is aware the situation in Kashmir is not good and by going there and painting I get tranquility. Gurez valley is not yet touched by the influx of tourists and the hotels and it is very different in terms of its landscape as compared to other areas in the valley.”
The journeys these artists have taken in their life both internally and externally are depicted in the paintings and photographs exhibited at the show.
Self taught photographer Fanil Pandya has presented photos from the Omo Valley tribes in Ethopia. “The Omo Valley tribes are facing a lot of difficulties in terms of basic surviving due to the interest of other countries in buying huge chunks of land there for extensive farming. I got interested in the project after learning about it from a friend based out of Ethopia. The photographs exhibited are from my series, The Last Frontier.”
Pandya has depicted the dilemma of the villagers through this photograph. He says, “Here in the photograph, A mother with her child, Mursi Tribe, the child is sick from a disease a mother has no idea about as the infections are uncommon here. This is a problem as the villagers have hardly had any disease in the past but due to the constant entry of foreigners in their land the situation is going worse for the natives.”
Delhi based artist Shiffali Wadhawan had heard about the recently launched Egg Art Studio and wanted to showcase her work there. She has four paintings displayed in the show. Talking about how the painting, Above, beyond and midst, she says, “In 2014 I had gone to Croatia for a vacation with my family and found this breathtaking spot there I immediately wanted to paint. I instantly felt a deep connect with the landscape as according to me the waves were reflecting varied human emotions to a large extent from raging to calm. I have painted this over a period of one month and used to paint this for 12 hours a day. I wanted to paint every minute detail in this artwork.”
By this exhibition Amrita wants the focus of the viewer to shift from European to Indian. She says, “Whenever one thinks of landscape, imaginary scenes of Europe comes into mind. Through this exhibition I wanted to bring the landscapes that reflect Indianness to the forefront. Here I have tried to bring audience face to face with Indian point of view for landscape artworks. Above all I want the viewer to let go of themselves while seeing the artworks.”
Lands Within will continue at the Egg Art Studio till 15 September