A Journey Into the Infinite : Gautam Banerji

“You must understand that you will please no one”

Emile Zola (1866)


The journey

It has been a long journey, a steep climb since I began two years ago. Every moment spent at the Visual Art Studio has awakened in me wonders to experiment, explore, experience and share.

I had no artistic preconceptions when I began.

My techniques often broke radically from established norms of ‘correct’ painting that many around me would deem to be decadent. Brushstrokes were no longer concealed, and bright colours were juxtaposed to create the illusion of light.

My paintings, as they evolved, were based more on perceptions rather than a reproduction of reality.

I soon discovered that I was drifting into Impressionism and one of my early paintings drew a resemblance, I was told, to Claude Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ series.

I felt reassured I was not alone in the realm of art.

Monet continues to inspire me, no less than Vincent van Gogh, who himself found the style of the new Parisian Impressionists stimulating.

Initially disparaged as being ‘inept’ and ‘unprofessional’, Impressionist canvases by the early twentieth century were being appreciated and collected. Today they are almost universally admired.

I felt further reassured I had hope.

Early Impressionism at the turn of the nineteenth century in Paris was a reaction to the country’s state-controlled art school system. It was a rejection of the values it promoted. Artists by choice opted for a less restrictive place to study.

I felt fully reassured now to call myself an Impressionist.

And so, the journey continued into the unknown depths of experience.

I in turn discovered Henri Matisse and the wonders of Abstraction. Matisse did not set out with a clear idea of how his painting would look. ‘The Snail’ is a classic example. He certainly had no idea of the title, either. The motif evolved through the process.

My paintings go much the same way!

And sometimes, no doubt, a shape would be re-cut or discarded.

Some of the exhibits here have gone through that journey, improvising, allowing the progress of my picture to be determined in part by making it.

Matisse had employed chance in a minor way and under highly controlled conditions. I still go much in that direction although Jackson Pollock has been no less an influence in my journey.

Jackson’s ‘Alchemy’ is a classic case of abstract painting where accident is at the very centre of the creative method. At least one of my paintings exhibited here has gone that way.

I remain, in turn, happy to induce accidents and exploit their results as a part of the creative process.

The exhibits

I have confined myself here to only those artworks created and crafted by me this year with a focus on my new venture into ceramics. I have also ventured into digital creativity taking my paintings as motifs. A touch of Matisse and Monet is discernible you will notice. Pollock still inspires although I am breaking new grounds with a distinctive style I am told.

Exhibit 1: After the Snowstorm in March - 45cm x 30cm watercolour on board paper touched up with watercolour pencils.

This is among my few watercolour pieces and my first attempt to capture motion and movement in human form. The artistic approach is independent of and in opposition to the concept of painting as a window on the world. It evokes in turn a touch of mirth and merriment in the open after an untimely confinement indoors.

Exhibit 2: Piecing together a Fragmented Artsakh – 90cm x 60cm acrylic on board paper touched up with watercolour pencils, markers, and highlighters.

This is a digital copy of a reworked collage of my paintings in acrylic, shredded and pieced together to evoke a sense of fragmentation the region suffered through the recent conflict. The piecing together brings hope.

Exhibit 3: Another Perspective – 90cm x 60cm acrylic on board paper touched up with watercolour pencils, markers, and highlighters.

This is a second copy of Exhibit 2 placed from a different perspective, striking an ominous note with the visage of a dark apparition presiding over a juxtaposition of bright colours, creating in turn an illusion of light.

Exhibit 4: The Truth of Nature – five cropped pieces in varied sizes of acrylic on board paper and touched up with watercolour pencils.

The five exhibits in their original are derived from a fresh collage of shredded pieces from the original painting in Exhibit 2&3. Remaining shreds are preserved to trace the process. The cropped versions displayed here are evocative of impressionist painting in the tradition of Monet’s landscapes, although the method used is more in the tradition of Matisse. It seeks a closer and more direct relationship with nature and its landscapes. Through closer scrutiny, you will be able to discern the links between the pieces, although each could well stand by itself.

Exhibit 5: Digital variations of The Truth of Nature – pieces of digital creativity reworked on Exhibit 4

I have displayed here a digital variation of my paintings as a specimen. I have worked on more. On scrutiny, you should be able to trace its connection to the original. This is a new area of creativity I am exploring closely these days where technology combines as an additional medium for creative self-expression.

Exhibits 6: Printmaking – three originals in blue worked out of a stencil in plastic crafted by me along with four digital variations.

The original prints in blue evoke a comparison with Matisse in his ‘Blue Nude’ series but my version varies in the complexity of details. They are certainly not blue nudes. The four digital variations have been worked through by converting the ‘blue’ prints to colour negatives and in turn adding a mirror effect to them. The transformation took me no less by surprise. On scrutiny, you will be able to trace the digital creations to the blue originals.

Exhibit 7: Treasure Island - 90cm x 60cm digital version of original in acrylic on canvas, also displayed.

This piece evolved purely through accident and the motif took me no less by surprise. I started with printmaking with the drip paint technique, run through the roller. There was far too much paint on the canvas, and it came out at the other end, all smudged. I in turn took the canvas under running water in the sink and saw a pattern emerge as the excess paint washed off. I kept just as much as I needed, dried the canvas, and reworked it with fresh acrylic paint. It turned out to be my Treasure Island.

Exhibit 8: Call of the Mountains – 90cm x 60cm reworked digital enlargement with original print also displayed.

The original printmaking was done using the drip paint technique. The digital variation is in turn reworked with fresh acrylic and touched up with watercolour pencils.

Exhibit 9: “Don’ts” – 60cm x 45cm poster collage of ‘don’ts”.

This is displayed along with a pencil sketch touched up with charcoal evoking a sense of minimalist art.

Exhibits 10: Ceramics

I have displayed here a wide range of ceramics I have worked on this year. They include several using the pinch-bowl technique and a few in cylindrical patterns worked with rolled clay.

Experimenting with creations in clay is proving to be a new and enriching experience. It brings a new dimension to forms and shapes. Holding and moulding the clay is by itself an added dimension to creativity, not fully experienced in paintings. Touching and feeling the third dimension is a bonus to the creative experience. Added to all, the colour that emerges after glazing comes as a surprise. Many of my ceramic plates, I am told are emerging as pieces of abstract art.

Visual Art is no less a journey into the infinite. There is no limit to creativity. I feel humbled by this opportunity to have touched the surface. The deeper I travel, the more enriched I feel in consequence. I only wished I had started the journey earlier!

In conclusion, and by way of reflection on this amazing experience at the vantage point I reached in my life, the following concluding lines from Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses” come to mind:

“We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.”

Alfred Lord Tennyson: Ulysses

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