In the Light(ness) of Being – Lalitha Lajmi, Latika Katt and Rekha Rao

In the light (ness) of being a woman

 

Woman – ‘Prakruti’

Holding life in her womb

Making the move

Awakening the consciousness

To mould the lump

Into a life…

…. And that is the story of her life. On surface it is giving life and running the show but in reality a woman holds much more that she pours in creating life. Only she has the capacity to allow this flow and keep the flux on. Today the same woman has revealed her larger role reaching out to the shores of other planets, making policies for better humanities, creating new models in science, expanding horizons while she stands as a pillar to her children, her man, her friend, her companion and show them models to conquer mountains.

They say that had the humankind be nurtured by a woman, we could have avoided the wars and the present world would have been more habitable, peaceful, happier and caring for Mother Nature. Let us come together to share this immense power of woman who does not want a world for herself but for everyone, for progress, for joy and peace.

We invite you to participate to express this world of strength and beyond

 

A woman’s world is a world that is no different than any other world. This is her inner world, infinite and unbound. This inner world carries substance that defines love and passion, dreams and fantasies.  It is freedom. Every woman aspires to be part of this inner world where she fantasizes of flying in the lightness of her being.

 

The three women artists sharing their works in this show, Lalitha Lajmi, Latika Katt and Rekha Rao – are representatives of such female sensibilities. Their works are subtle in feel and treatment, and yet persuasive. They do not carry biases of life, of gender mannerisms that we expect, for our own conformist self, to pass a judgment, to pacify the imposed objectivity of being of a woman and of man by those who find it comfortable but have missed to note the chasm where it is one space and one plane. This is the area of being free and being with one’s own self, without the clutches of labels.

All three artists create images, which express their being. They all create their own stories, built on the premise of their own experiences. Hence, they are varied, yet emancipating. They are depicted in the zone of self-existence.

 

For instance, Lalitha Lajmi’s female figures in watercolors depict the fantasy of relationships. She celebrates the relationships that exist around her: with men, with women, with children, with daughters and with sons, with animals, and with birds. However weightless they appear here, they carry complexities of human relations. Such complexities are expressed through their neat folds of drapery and their wide, clear eyes in aspiration to identify them, iron them and label them. The figures also upload their fantasies to fly on the wings of Buraq but in bright daylight, as their only motive is to inhale the freedom, in time and in space. However expressive they are, they pose a question of the validity of such relations and check whether they are liberating, liberated or being liberated?  As the artist, Lalitha remains present in all her works, either as the protagonist or a woman in view, sleeping, sitting, gazing down there, inviting you to have a conversation, to experience the Being of lightness.

 

Artist Latika Katt’s papier-mâché sculptures depict the mother earth in bloom; signifying a new beginning. Her bronzes show Ghats of Ganges in steps, carefully carving out omnipresent human spirit residing in tiny figures. It aspires to de-shackle the physical layers of space and rise above the time to set it free. She is even moved by the insects that have encapsulated a bunch of mango leaves and metamorphoses it into the ‘other’ life that marks the absence of its original fragrant life yet is set to grow. Latika Katt’s bronze works make us realize the presence of moments which were buried under the mother earth, being excavated from the dark recesses, now liberated from their shackles and in the process, are transformed in to another material to set the spirit free, the form mortal. Latika has been drawing inspiration from the time she used to spend in her father’s garden at Dehradun as a child. The growing life in trees, the fruits, the exuding fragrance after rains are the binding memories of life lived, that transpires through the use of media and forms to become being. Her hardships as a woman are erased or re negotiated in order to liberate the forms. Consequently, what we see here are the images that represent her footprints, her whereabouts, her endeavors and her freedom achieved in the journey.

 

Rekha Rao’s non-linear narratives through the non-figurative forms are an introduction to her own visit to her recesses, where she breathed in the freshness of spirit. The consistent use of birds, water or animals as metaphors, tell us a story of a young girl, who wandered the lanes in her free spirited fantasies that allowed her to visit and revisit places where she has interacted, debated and dialogued to experience the freedom. Rekha does not comment on anyone else’s journey but accounts her own and aspires to do so more often. Growing under the umbrella of love, care and warmth of creative vivaciousness of her father, the great progressive artist Shri Hebbar, she has seen a life of free moments closely. From this, she has derived her moments, which find an account here in its individuality. Since Rekha spent her childhood in such vibrant atmosphere, her images breathe fullness and dazzle through the use of colour. She is not a colorist but her canvas use colour to boost the mood of the notes that she chooses to sing her journey in. They find their being in the strokes of brush and are conscious. Thus Rekha’s story of entering and experiencing her inner recesses that have been holding memories from her childhood, her adulthood and her present stage also take us all along on a similar journey. By painting these accounts these memories are liberated and by viewing these accounts the viewer experiences liberation.

 

All the works by three women artists celebrate the sensibility of womanhood through different images creating different idioms. Neena Naishadh’s focus to bring out these sensibilities in images and expressions is an effort to touch the corner that is present in every woman’s life, which knowingly or unknowingly is celebrating its presence in different avatars at different stages of life.

 

… in the spirit of Light (ness) of being a woman.

 

Sharmila Sagara

 

Lalitha Lajmi born in Calcutta is self trained artist. She has worked in many mediums such as oil, watercolor, and prints. She has held several shows in India and overseas since last five decades. In 1994 she was invited to participate in Guru Dutt film festival and there was an illustrated lecture on her works organized by Gopal Krishan Gandhi then Indian High Commission at Nehru Centre, London. She has been engaged in children art education also.

 

Latika Katt studied sculpture at Banaras Hindu University and later moved to Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University Vadodara as a master’s students. She was awarded National Cultural scholarship, British Council scholarship and was invited as resident artist at Canberra University, Australia. She has held many solo shows in India and overseas and has been part of many group shows too. She is a professor of sculpture and has taught at Jamia Milia Islamia, Banaras Hindu University and Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Vadodara. List of major works by her includes portrait of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, which are installed in many states of India.

 

Rekha Rao – a self-taught artist has held many shows in India and overseas since 1970s. She has been awarded Suvarna Karnataka Rajyatosva Award, G S Shenoy memorial award; Bombay Art Society’s award as well several Lalit Kala Awards during her journey as an artist. She has also participated in national level art camps and has conducted workshops for young artists.