Collection: Rasana Bhardwaj

I perceived that, as an art practitioner I could express my concerns through certain body postures that
show gesticulation. This visual language represents the unexpressed emotions, unspoken words.
Displaying controlled chaos within.
The presence of colossal bodies in my works has a repository essence. In the
process of drawing I tend to discover one’s inner self. It manifests as a
response to interactions with my deepest conscience, places within the
unlighted space of my mind, an extension of certain memories, belonging to
emotional statues. My works are a medium through which a dialogue starts as
an alternative way for interacting with the self, to introspect. To relate the
tangible quality of a colossal body, with its insecurities and its language, the
folds, curves, touch and feel with that of the human mind is what I try to
achieve through my practice. This reciprocation results in an awareness about
the self, highlighting the significance and connectivity with every deep or
shallow emotion. The inclination towards the physical colossal bodies can be
traced back to my preferences for mid aged feminine nudes, the forms which
have been an integral part of my practice. The method therefore have
metaphoric meaning for my, obsession with body parts, which gets
romantically translated through objects. I am also drawn towards originally the
basic and the organic because of its ability to germinate, reproduce, foster,
enlarge and continue the cycle of existence.
My childhood has been about growing up (in a house, which inhabited
restrictions and sometimes violence. Curling up in a cocoon knowing no ways
to express, fear lead the paths till teenage. This gave me a chance to be in
close proximity with drawing and colouring in leisure time. A sound of breaking
objects, screaming noises from the closed doors or just heavy pillows pushing
into the ear drums were not just moments, but were characters who narrates
stories; stories of unaddressed fear, anger and chaos within. Now when I look
at these objectively, they become precious for me, therefore I engage myself in
understanding them. It gives me immense wisdom to find solution in any
present situation of life, collecting the relics of the past. I relate this act of
balance with that of presenting the body languages within, the body which has
been a battlefield throughout human-existence. The body gets transformed
throughout one’s life; several times the mind is inflicted with ferocity,
disrupting its original peace and existence. The works are a metaphor to the
Psychological journey of body and mind, it also suggest to the importance of
preserving and caring for it.
Nudes have been a recurrent theme in my practice, through the suggested
lines is painted images of perishable natural emotions; I tend to suggest the
mental movements, their sensitivity and fragility of their existence. The
subdued and subtle colours of my work draw reference from the silent
expression and unexpressed feeling. Nevertheless the lines and the form
screaming to explode. It also derives its essence from the understanding ‘Life is
chaos, and balancing the chaos is Life’.
The morbid tone with monochromatic palette speaks of grief, loss, pain but a
punch of bright flows suggests the joy, happiness, balance and love. Indicative
of the hidden instincts of the soul which further relates metaphorically with my
existence, is what I set to achieve through my works.