Profile Ketaki Pimpalkhare, Unity in Diversity show and more..

PROFILE


An anthology of a macrocosm - Ketaki Pimpalkhare

A serene stillness appears to persist in space, especially when one looks at images of the lonely blue planet. The macrocosm reveals itself in such moments and dwarfs the debatable invincibility of humankind. Parallel realms replete with awareness and beauty co-exist hidden from human perception but Ketaki Pimpalkhare’s sculptures and paintings freely surf in and out of these micro and macrocosmic worlds building bridges across them, observes Sushma Sabnis.

(Artist Ketaki Pimpalkhare)

Pune based artist Ketaki Pimpalkhare, a MFA graduate from S N D T Women’s University, deciphers the quiet whisperings of an ocean in seashells. Her sculptural works, paintings and her recent foray into land art all speak of her unspoken bond with nature. Translating the language of the spheres, this artist and sculptor brings forth a unique and perceptive collection of art works to engage with, for the viewer.

( A sculpture by Ketaki Pimpalkhare)

An undulating distorted form is what a viewer sees at first, but as the sculpture speaks for itself, the essence of the artist’s intent surfaces. Imagine an earth, not as a sphere of blue and brown and green, but like a crushed ball of paper. That is how one could believe the earth ‘feels’ at the moment. Yet with eons and generations of human abuse, she survives.

(A sculpture by Ketaki Pimpalkhare)

In some of her sculptural works, the artist dives deep into the ocean, heavily influenced by the colourful and vivid shapes of shells and sea animals, she captures them in her sculptures and paintings. Coralline forms emerge, distinct and translucent all at once, concealing drops of the ocean within them, Was that the dotted texture of a sting ray fin? Or the rainbow coloured scales of a tropical fish? Her imagination swims unbridled by any harness and pours itself into the sculptures. Delicate leaf like, labyrinths surface from the depths of the artist’s creative ocean and introduce the viewer to another world, they are blissfully unaware of in her sculptures.

( A painting from the 'I am the Universe' show)

Ketaki’s abstract paintings series, ‘I Am the Universe’ does send the viewer into these flights and depths of an artist’s imaginary realms, and Ketaki with her art works has built enough bridges between the physical and the metaphysical, the real and the ethereal.The artist brings out the ‘oneness’ she experiences in this series. Ketaki works in many mediums. To keep from getting into a repetitive rut that most artists face from time to time, she experiments in various mediums, ceramic and clay sculptures, paper works, masks etc. 

(A work from Fragmented Reality show)

Her recent show, ‘Fragmented Reality’ saw her use the medium of tar on canvas. These highly evocative and expressive monochromatic paintings are proof that the artist excels at figurative expression. The works aptly titled, ‘Fragmented reality’ series, talk about the challenges for survival in a competitive world, where the competition is as much with the self than the outside world. The works display a sense of responsibility and self knowledge and are almost cathartic in depiction.Many a times for an artist the real challenge is not imagination but innovation. As much as an artist appears to be disconnected with science, the other side of this very coin is art. Ketaki understands and flips this coin when she intends to produce some very meaningful and intense works.

( Land art at MOHOR - Pune Biennale)

Her recent works were seen in her participation at the MOHOR- Pune Beinnale, where she forayed into installation/ land art. Creating and interacting with land for making an art work gives the artist a kind of grounded-ness which is very akin to the fibre of every creative person. The work essentially ephemeral, encloses the beauty and simplicity of a dew drop, or of life itself. However temporary, the intensity of the art work captured the attention of the viewer as the work speaks directly to them. Using moulds of her own face, a physical representation of the self, she moulded sand creating a group of sand face installations. The artist in her own words felt ‘a tremendous belonging to this planet’. Stamping out these sand faces, the artist annihilates the ego, to become one with the earth. Several truths of life and living surface from this installation work.

( Masks at the show)

She uses the same moulds again in a show, these masks of her own face are made of newspaper and plaster, and each one is covered with the social issues ailing the world today, torn out of news papers and tabloids, writ large all over the mask.. Politics, terrorism, charity, sex, social networking, fashion, etc. All these masks are hung on the walls together like a metaphor of a superficial blabbering of a group of people, the outcome of which only leads to more questions and no answers, the artist makes her point  of the absolute futility of idle banter.

Her most recent participation in the ‘Resist’ show, an art intervention and protest held at Mumbai, presented by Engendered art space, Delhi, saw her poignant work and sharp views about gender based violence and sexuality issues. A pair of blue lips are bitten till they bleed, in endurance, in protest, agitation and despair. The image is one which is difficult to erase from memory.

(A painting at the Resist show)

Ketaki makes her mark in many mediums including photography. Her multi- medium experiments and the singular concern for the enduring beauty of nature, bring into focus environmental issues and the over abuse of the planet earth. Addressing the macrocosm of the environment and nature, the artist subtly draws parallels to the human condition. The trials and tribulations one undergoes, not just as an artist, but as a human being, and the process of evolving and painful learning, get emphasized in her works. However, she does not dwell in the murk of negativity and hopelessness, in fact she breaks free each time, through each series and new mediums, from the monotony and quick sand of stereotypes and presents a horizon of hope for the future.

Ketaki Pimpalkhare lives and works in Pune.

NEWS

Infinity Divinity Show

(A painting at the show)

Gallery G, Bangalore presents the solo show of 76 year old artist, Vinod Banaik, titled, ‘Infinity Divinity’. As the title suggests this is a collection of art that depicts spirituality and tranquility. Artist Vinod Banaik has played with color, lines and texture to create a multi-faceted image, of the universe and the cosmic sky, which shields and protects humans from the forces of nature. 

The 76-year old artist, Vinod Banaik, agrees that the momentary foray into the unknown has always excited the childlike enthusiasm in her combined with a deep spiritual longing towards the ancient gods from Hindu mythology, her main source of inspiration. The radiant energy emitted by the cosmos along with carefully selected imagery of the Gods are the central themes based on which her art revolves. Her works are mainly a tribute to the Hindu gods, Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna and to her late husband Satish who has been her strength and support throughout her career in art.

The show is on till the 24th of July 2013.

As Within..So Without

( A painting by Ram Kumar)

Art Musings gallery, Mumbai presents ‘As Within….so Without’, an exhibition featuring paintings of Ram Kumar and Ganesh Haloi, two of India’s most accomplished abstractionists. 

Each artist has devoted several decades to the depiction of the non-representational painted surface. Ram Kumar and  Ganesh Haloi continue to renew their expression with an energy of inventiveness that is matched by a magical richness of emotion. 

Ram Kumar’s works bring to the fore that realm of seeming order inside a vibrant and ever changing universe, like the formations of architecture which creep up unexpectedly on the canvas, amid the ochres and pthalo blues, greens which dominate the palette. A formation and break down followed by reformation moves on in a cyclic cosmos.

Ganesh Haloi’s works whisper a subtle lament for the loss of the landscape, the rivers, hills, marshes and lakes, homelands mapped on the canvases. His works are odes to the nature in detailed recollection and depiction of fragmented memories. 

The show is on view till the 30th of August 2013.

Prayas - a contemporary art show

Chemould Art Gallery, Kolkata presents a mammoth group art show of 100 artists’ art works. The show titled,‘Prayas’ features about 200 art works by eminent and emerging artists from around the country.

To ensure all the artists receive equal opportunity to present their works, the show has been classified further as per the mediums used into water colour show, acrylic on paper/ canvas, oil colours show, mixed media show, sculpture show and many others as per the nature of the works displayed. 

The show aims to provide an even platform and opportunity for all kinds of artworks of upcoming and contemporary artists.

The show commenced on 18th July and is on view till the 5th of August 2013.



Unity in Diversity show

( Paintings at the show)

The Kerala Art Gallery at the Durbar Hall art Gallery, Kochi presents a show titled ‘ Unity in Diversity’. As the title of the show suggests the show displays works by eleven artists. Keeping things simple and vibrant, this show is devoid of a specific theme, hence the artists have given a free reign to the aesthetic and artistic expression.

There are 64 works on display and the general focus of the themes are, human life today, environmental issues, excerpts and stories form epics, depiction of nature etc. The mediums used for the works by the artists vary from watercolours on canvas and paper to oils and acrylics on canvas, paper and glass. There are pen and ink on paper and canvas works also in the exhibition.

The show is on till the 19th of July 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)