Angeli Sowani: Vaahan
3rd November 2010 - 17th November 2010
Artist Statement:
‘What do you paint?’ This is a question I am always asked ... and while the question is simple, there is no simple answer. I do not want my work to fit into a neat ‘slot’ or ‘style’ or to tell the viewer what to think. I prefer to push my work into new and unexplored areas and leave it for the viewer’s imagination to unravel the meaning. In my current body of works I have taken this further using industrial paint, religious threads, paper collage, tibetan prayer flags and a blowtorch.
Nov 26, 2008 watching Mumbai burning on the television, was when I first took a blowtorch to canvas, each burnt mark in my mind was a life lost to the continuing violence. Ideas poured out as I worked with this new medium. I started to scorch the canvas and see where the patterns would lead me - to explore how far I could push the material before it was destroyed. I found that even in destruction there was fresh creation as shapes of birds, flames and whorls emerged, cut from the burnt canvases. Surprisingly, the intense concentration and focus required to work with this medium was calming, almost meditative ...and through it I learnt how vulnerable material is when touched by fire which seemed a fitting metaphor for the fragility of our lives.
‘Vaahan’ meaning ‘carrier’ symbolises to me the medium through which thought and passion are brought together to create meaningful art. By using the distinct and different medium of fire, I hope to challenge the viewer to think about the delicate balance of our lives and the fragility of being.