India Inked

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Kurma Nadham, “Untitled,” 2013

woodcut, 48” x 72”

The visual arts are a lonely activity. Dancers, actors and musicians often work together, but visual artists are largely solitary. One exception is printmakers whose shared presses and workshops bring them together in a way that is rare for painters and sculptors. It was just such a workshop that led to India Inked, on view at the Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists in Edmonton until June 2.

Banyan Hearts is a small printmaking studio in bustling Hyderabad, a large city in India. Nirmal Raja, an interdisciplinary artist from Milwaukee, travelled to this community hub, where she met Santhosh Sakhinala, an artist who teaches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad. The workshop’s uplifting ambience and its enthusiastic young printmakers led to further collaborations. Eventually, the two artists curated this show, which brings together the work of six printmakers from India and six diasporic artists. It offers a fascinating glimpse into deep conceptual similarities and intriguing distinctions.

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Moutushi Chakraborti, “Femme 4,” 2013

screenprint, 15" x 22”

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Moutushi Chakraborti, “Conversations 1,” 2016

screenprint, 22" x 30”

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One striking divergence is that the representational vocabulary of the India-based artists is paired frequently with references to a colonial past. The Femme series of screenprints by Moutushi Chakraborti, a Kolkata-based artist, are one example. Inspired by historical photographs of women, her figures are set against the gold and sepia tones of paisley motifs, a pattern that became popular in the 18th century after it was brought to the West by the East India Company.

At first glance these images are gentle, even illustrative. It’s only with a closer look that another perspective comes into view: the subjects are uncomfortably posed and one of the bare-chested women is under age. She looks away from the camera almost in fear. Unsettling questions about the photographer begin to percolate: most likely he was a white male shooting “exotica.” In a twin image that accompanies each photo, Chakraborti places a silhouette of the original figure filled with exuberant, free-flowing patterns that dance as if freed from behind a screen or purdah veil.

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Ina Kaur, “Entangled Landscape,” 2016

etching, 16" x 16"

By contrast, American based artists like Ina Kaur, a professor at the University of Tampa in Florida, rely predominantly on abstracted imagery to convey ideas. But this is not decorative, skin-deep abstraction. References to Indian thought and iconography are not always immediately perceptible; yet, if you scratch the surface, deep and foundational connections emerge.

For example, Kaur’s Entangled Landscape etchings echo the sinuous lines and decorative motifs characteristic of Indian design. These could be microscopic organisms weaving patterns in a water droplet or satellite images of roads and rivers with occasional human settlements. Small and large phenomena interweave effortlessly as if caught in the cosmic dance of Shiva’s drumbeat.

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Shaurya Kumar, “Put Behind Bars,” 2014

screenprint, 18" x 25”

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Sangeeta Reddy, “Ellipse #14,” 2011

mixed media monotype, 22" x 30”

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Despite the array of styles, an uplifting connectivity permeates India Inked. There are no curatorial divisions: works by American and Indian artists mix seamlessly. Representational and mythological iconographies hang next to abstractions and the differences enhance rather than detract. Even within the printmaking community, already renowned for its international bonds, the mutual respect and appreciation of diversity is an inspiration. ■

India Inked, a group exhibition curated by Nirmal Raja and Santhosh Sakhinala, is on view from April 27 to June 2, 2018 at SNAP, the Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists in Edmonton.