ALL THE PAINTINGS in the exhibition, 'Soul of my Country' might look distinct at first glance; however the common thread among all the paintings revolves around India and Indian women. Whether it is Sita or Padmini or a simple village woman performing mangal arati or Vaastu puja, women dominate her landscape except in the works depicting mythological stories and rickshaw pullers of Kolkata. The paintings for 'Soul of my Country' exhibition series are of three types: decorative, figurative and narrative. In decorative paintings one can see birds, animals and human-beings. The figurative mainly includes Gods and Goddesses and
The figurative mainly includes Gods and Goddesses and tandava dance forms of Lord Shiva. Furthermore, there is narrative kind of paintings depicting life of rickshaw pullers, Rajputs and so on. The artist uses multiple media in this collection: water colour on paper, on silk, oil on canvas, acrylic and water mixable with oil. One also gets the impression that India lives in its villages, where you can experience and share life in its full meaning. India and her core values is ingrained in her canvas with soothing colours, melting into each other with dynamism so vigorous that it consumes the viewer. The water colour on silk is almost comforting, it draws you in. The paintings
The water colour on silk is almost comforting, it draws you in. The paintings express the soul through life, but life is only a means of the spiritual self-expression, there is a vivid and vital representation, but it is more of an inner psychical than of the outward physical life. This is what viewers will find, walking through 'Soul of my country'– a solo painting exhibition of Bardhan's works, which are an amalgamation of paintings of different media and style which she learnt throughout her four decades of career in art, which explores beautiful landscapes of India, her people and her culture. Bardhan is one of the very few artists who use the rare medium "Water
Bardhan is one of the very few artists who use the rare medium "Water color on Silk". Bardhan has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in prominent galleries in different parts of India and will be showcasing in Bangalore after the Kolkata show.