Abstract art is one of the most open-ended forms of art. Splashes of paint spattered across the canvas, undefined geometrical shapes, fusion of colours resembling the amalgamation of two liquids are some of the common images that float in our minds when we think of abstract art. Keeping the visual representation aside, when one looks at it, there are more than one ways of comprehension and interpretation. For centuries, this form of art has intrigued artists across the globe—from Vincent van Gogh to MF Hussain—and is a testimony to change and evolution. This art form is different to every artist and New Delhi-based Anu Malhotra is trying to give it a dimension of her own. An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Malhotra has come out with her latest collection of paintings titled Flow Dreams. The collection reminds one of a stream of surreal thoughts coupled with the intricate traces of trances.
Her artwork, when compared with other contemporaries, is very different in the way it is created. “For most artists, there is a sense of premeditation involved with their work. They know what they are going to make. But for me, it’s all instantaneous and instinctual,” Malhotra tells Financial Express.
When asked about the difference in her work, she replies, “I pour the colours on the canvas and allow them to flow on the surface. Slowly, as they merge, ideas start coming to my mind and I give them different shapes using my hands. Unlike others, I do not use a knife or a paint brush for my work.” She has travelled across the length and breadth of the country and it is the different cultures and people she has encountered during her travels that inspire her work. “All my inspiration is drawn from the places I have travelled to, the people I have met and the cultures I have been part of,” she reminisces. Malhotra’s work uses a lot of colours, which she considers to be a manifestation of the diversity and vibrancy of Indian culture. “Indian artists do not use so many colours. Look at the odhnis of Rajasthan, or the turbans of Punjab, there is colour all around. One should make use of that,” says Malhotra.
Indian art forms have always been very rich in terms of the culture they come from and the vividness they bring along. A lot of people depend on western ideas to draw inspiration from. Malhotra thinks otherwise. “There is no need to look at the West. We just need to look into ourselves and our past. There is so much to learn from our ancestors… there is no dearth of ideas or imagination,” she adds.
The fluidity in Malhotra’s art reminds one of the existence of a variety of cultures and traditions in our country, something that the younger or even the current crop of artists should learn from. The exhibition is on at The Lodhi, New Delhi, till October 31
