'I smell something happening far away,

seems nearer to me'

Aryama Pal

Kolkata, India

I fear, as I hear those voices knocking in my dreams.

Crisis, tranquillity, decaying and absence are actively present in my work, as I have been away from my home for the last two years. The sudden deaths of my closed ones are the responsible cause of such feelings.

History, destruction, erosion, hazardous and ghoulish elements are also inherent in my work, which I believe has a strong connection to war.

In these paintings I have used both conventional and non-conventional mediums. When I painted, I applied several layers of colour, slowly and softly, then scrubbed them off and applied colours again. Through this process I tried to develop a sense of history, memory, absence and presence.

As materials I have used my mother’s saris, rust, cement and acid. Mother beholds a very caring, loving and tender characteristic, at a time when these features seem to be gradually disappearing in this world. I have tried to depict this by using rust and acid as materials, which are corrosive in nature. Same was the purpose for using cement, but also for its constructive quality, to generate a sense of deconstruction through construction.

For two of the works I made during this process I used rust, acid and my mother’s sari. Whenever they fade (for the reason of using acid), I regularly work on them, and through this process I am trying to develop a sense of nursing for the ailing mother earth.

I have used images from art history to develop references and to create a bridge with history. There are many images of cactuses, because the cactus with its fine spines appears to me very ghoulish.

The world is in a huge crisis of social and moral security, and this has consciously and sub-consciously prompted my works.