Riddhi Patel

India

“Sight Unseen”- series

Acrylic on Khadi

15 x 15 inch (x9)

Artist Statement:

Interpretation of Nature and its environment which is complex yet simple is like a dance. And it is this dance that makes perception attainable to us. As the Taoists suggest, ‘The most inspiring instance is to stay quietly content with the mystical contemplation of nature  and to feel at home with the world’. My artworks takes a critical view of silent and the transcendent nature. I bring in textures and patterns inspired from tapestries, curtains or wood grains into a solitude space and confront it with intentions of serenity. I believe that there is a certain meditative energy involved in the process of making. The repetition of lines, continuous involvement, thin brushstrokes and subtle colours are therapeutic healing to me. Painting those lines in a continuous manner with similar intensity is what acts as a therapeutic conditioning for me. I investigate close details and keep doing it. This kind of brings in focus and intensity within me which allows me to go with the flow. 

The mediums I incorporate into my practice are acrylic, graphite, charcoal, ink, gouche and Indian dyes. While working, I always tune to folk and classical music. The rhythms, vocal chord and the Tabla sounds provide me a visual experience rather than an auditory sensation. I feel, repetition of lines is just like repetition of sound or beats, which remains constant with the tune but varies in its temperament. The likeness for the classical and folk music came from my journey of being a classical dancer. I am practicing “kathak” (a classical dance form of india) since last 15 years. This art form talks about “taal”- the rhythm, constant like a heartbeat. And after all, rhythm is what makes us alive! 

To begin work I usually think of waterbodies like sea and ocean and their expanse. I often correlate this vision with the warp and weft. When you witness an ocean, you notice its endless and infinite nature. To me, just an imaginary glimpse of it makes me feel insignificant. There is no boundary to lay focus on. Its vast and you almost seem like an ant in front the Himalayas. Such is the nature of warp and weft. Its endless and uncountable. Where the water constitutes the ocean, here, the thread constitutes the framework. This ideology often becomes the groundwork for my construction. 

I deal with words like endless, infinite, ephemeral, abstract and optical sensation in my work. These devices are the entire framework of my work-bodies. The lines in my work function as a symbol for concepts as diverse as personal experiences, internal energy and mindfulness. Using varied kind of lines makes me feel liberated and stems the meditative resonance. Through these lines I try to create an atmosphere of quietness, stillness and transience. The fading colors suggest the ephemeral being in it. “Transcendence” and “immanence” and two qualities of value I had like to achieve further. I want to strive mastering the purity of form and create an unexplainable elevated experience. I aim my work to serve as a purpose of vehicle to achieve and attain something which is more abstract and transcendental.