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Senior fellowship report
by
Vasundhra Tewari
(1.8.1996 - 1.2.1997)
Exhibitions:
Perspecta - Gallery 88- New
Delhi.
Women in Indian Art - The Gallery
- visuals art center Hong Kong.
Shatarudru - Exhibition of urban
& folk art - Lalit Kala Akademy.
During this period I was absorbed in bridging the hierarchical distinction between folk or craft art~and fine art. I endevoured to make my vision expansive and inclusive by absorbing influences of folk and traditional art, my work interesting village and Urban art traditions particularly relating to women. I drew from my cultural background with belief in the richness of tradition. I worked with the folk artist Shiromani Devi, from Gwalior producing a series of paintings titled 'Swinging Energy'. The technique was reverse painting on acrylic in which the female figure is shown in yogic postures with an underlying tone of irony in that they are overweight urban women exercising to lose weight juxtaposed with traditional motifs of women carrying pitchers of water and the repetitive pattern of Godess Laxmi's feet with the flower in front represented by a dot. I also-worked with Ambika Devi a village sculptress, from Bihar, who made traditional teracota figures. The female figures I have developed are strong women with natural bodies- not sensoure bodies of the earlier work. I drew inspiration from the sculptures of the artist Meera Mukherjee. It was exciting to sculpt as it was a new medium for me. I painted the teracota sculptures I had made with acrylic in layers to arrive at painted sculptures.
