Subtle strokes

Establishing a harmony between light and shadow and to display their relationship on canvas, an exhibition of paintings in watercolours titled ‘Tug of War’ by Sajal K Mitra will be held from March 23 to April 2 at Art Gallery, India International Centre in the national Capital.

Sajal K Mitra said: “My works, in pure transparent watercolours, is my attempt to capture the essence of a particular moment, the intangible “something” that words otherwise struggle to define and that makes a moment profound.  

“I believe that the intrigues of our environment are nothing but playful dances between light and shadow, physically and metaphorically. Therefore, successfully portraying the tug of war between light and shadow is essential for me to accomplish my goal as an artist.”

“I work in thin, translucent washes leaving some white spaces on the paper which enables certain areas of my work to glow while at the same time creating spatial depth. 

“This tug of war between light and dark, between foreground and background, and the selective detail in a composition allow me to draw the viewer’s attention to a particular point of interest. It is my goal for the viewer to experience the essence that I feel makes a moment worthy of depiction and which, otherwise, can hardly be described in words”, added the artist. 

Commenting on the works of Sajal, Padmashree Late Shri Keshav Malik, Poet and Critic said, “Sajal K Mitra banks on watercolours to recreate much beauty. Mitra has come a long way from his earliest showing, if the earlier works were a take-off of meditations on Indian environs, by and by he has knit, and re-knit the same into delightful misty waving patterns, as of scintillating lights - works undoubtedly conducive to our sensory joy.”