(Woman's Era January 2nd 1996)
Hema Guha became interested in printmaking in Madras where she studied art in the College of Arts and Crafts. She has remained with this art form ever since.
Printmaking is a complicated process of indirectly producing works of art. Its great advantage is that upto a dozen prints can be produced at a time, thus bringing down the price of each print.
The first step in printmaking is to decide on a subject and to make a sketch. This sketch is then traced onto the surface the artist plans to use. Hema uses hardboard or plywood for her woodcuts and zinc plate for her etchings. Artists also use limestone for lithographs.Once the design has been traced out, the artist uses a chisel and cuts out the design. The cuts are not too deep but are definite, clear and sharp. The printer's ink is smeared over the plate and prints are taken with a hand press. A special kind of paper is used for this.
The ink on the raised portions of the woodcut or plate appears on the
print while those lines and areas that have been cut with the chisel do not appear on the print. The
process of actual printmaking with takes about 2 hours and about a dozen prints can be taken from a plate.
According to Hema, printmaking, though complicated and time-consuming, is extremely satisfying "I will stay with printmaking, though I will try to improve my technique and experiment," she says.
In the present show, Hema has exhibited works she has executed in the last 2 years. Most of them are woodcuts, though there are some etchings as well. Hema is an innovative artist and each work has something new in it.
Some are in triptych, where 3 separate woodcuts are made and used simultaneously to make a print This technique allows the artist to plan a composite work in which each part is different in colour and technique. Hema has also experimented with kite paper.
Hema's woodcuts are extremely well crafted and she has a well developed sense of colour. As far as subjects go, hers is a quest for meaning in life. This has led her to various themes. In the present show, she has exhibited some prints on the subject of child labour.Perception Of Life.
(Patroit: March-10/1991)In her recent paintings and graphics, displayed at Triveni Gallery, Hema
Guha expresses a sense of volume and weight in her set of etchings. There is a certain feeling for realism in depiction of her impressions of life of the common people. She seems to be adopting an expressionis-tic style to convey her emotions and feelings. There is a poignant observation of women engaged in everyday activities or in touching moods, as in her "Sealdah Station" or "What Lies Ahead"; a quiet social comment.
The compositional approach is remarkable; for, the visual reality does not limit her perception. Her mind seems to penetrate beyond mere surfaces to create new simplified forms of reality for conveying a vivid insight into her encounters with life. The texture of her etchings being rather rough, it adds to their intensity of expression.
Hema is able to build up moody and atmospheric effect In her etchings more than In her paintings which presently need a lot more In technique as well as In form and content for expressing any force of emotion.
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