“CONFLUENCE”An Exhibition of Paintings by Vishnu N. Sonavane & Jyotsna V. Sonavane

JYOTSNA SONAVANE  

As an artist, my best work comes from the deepest place inside of me which fulfils the need to create. Painting thus becomes an inward journey for outward expressions I have always considered painting as a discrete language, not of words but of perception, feelings and beliefs. My paintings are impressions of the internal aspects of my life. These images of internal struggles of life. In essence, I am finding myself.

Living in an artistic family. I was exposed to art conversations every day. However, it was only until a few years ago that I developed the courage to express my thoughts, dreams, memories and aspirations through art. Art has the power to heal and transform. When I discovered just that, I knew I had to dedicate my life to making others feel “something” when in the presence of my art.

I like to work with the abstract language of lines and colours because the compositions continuously evolve and acquire new meaning as time passes and the perspective of the viewer changes. My inspiration comes from the colours and forms found in nature. I employ a variety of self-discovered techniques to create abstract paintings that mimic things we see in nature like stone, petrified wood, flowing rain water. My work is alive with emotion through the movement of the brushwork and the luscious layered colours. Much like memories, each painting is filled with layer upon layer of paint, building a rich history into each piece.

Being a self-taught artist, I devote a lot of time on observing, perfecting my skill with practice and continuous learning. I create through intuitive responses while engaged with the work. The process is completely organic and spontaneous. However, irrespective of what I feel at the time of painting, my constant pursuit is that the viewer experiences sheer delight in the presence of my works.

Sometimes, a rainbow of colours emerges from the onyx, whereas at times, an epoch passes by in the golden light and every time, hope wins over despair, I am aspired to start all over again. Where words and ideas end, my creative process begins, my internal landscape comes forward, I work intuitively, drawing from this vast boundless space from inside as well as outside.

VISHNU SONAVANE  

When we engage in the arts, we dip into our souls to discover deep pools of wonder, breath-taking gifts of beauty, and quiet revelation. As we create, we are invited into playfulness, poignancy, and surprise-energies that renew us and revitalise our sense of purpose.

Overlapping geometric floating planes have always been my preoccupation. After establishing my signature style-rhythmic waves of floating figures and forms merging into one another in a harmonic symphony, I felt an urge to explore a new vocabulary. As such, change, transition and revisiting one’s core are an indispensable part of an artist’s journey and also integral to my artistic endeavour. 

Through my recent suit of works I seek to explore the realms of mythology, folklore, innocence and the vibrancy in beauty that are present all around us. These ephemeral images engage the viewer in a silent discourse into the dimension of transcendent reality. The past, present and future emerge as a flux of transitory shapes caught in overlapping layers of experience.

Rich tapestry of symbolic forms have been weaved in these paintings. Shri Dattatreya, the Indian god with three heads. appear as the central figure in my works. However, rather than exploring his divine aspect I focus on representing the god as the transient quality of human mind, the tender, the preserving and tough. Similarly, cows and birds are the constant recurring motifs in my works. Cows, indicate the creative and nurturing aspect of nature, whereas birds indicate the fleeting quality of the human mind. 

In a mix of figurative and abstract renderings, my paintings project delightful dramas with undertones a sublime ambience. I carefully create layers to build astonishing tones and textures that give these works a peculiar radiance. I employ a palette dominated by the blue of the mountain sky, ochre and crimson complemented by the muted shades of the midnight grey, the spring green and the muddy brown and highlight them with sharp, percussive strokes of mellow, placid hues.

In total, these images create multi-layered crystalline narratives that present luminous tales, mesmerise the viewer, touch their hearts and stir their souls.