Oh Open exhibition

Titled ‘Trapped’, oils on canvas, made in 2009.

Oxford House at Bethnal Green organized a competition on the theme of  ‘People and Portraiture’ and I submitted the above work and it got selected! 🙂 The opening is today and I will be going for it in the evening.

In 2009, I managed to free myself a little from my self created trap and made this work… I came back to my roots, I came back to my art; even though then it was for a short while but atleast something worthy came out if it!

Everyone has ‘things’ trapped in them; emotions that were never shown or voiced out, distant memories we clutch on to, fading faces carved to remember them… and at times we are trapped by the negatives; the voices in our head, preconceived notions, fear, prejudices, our comfortable zone… we try hard to free ourselves and not fall a victim to it; some succeed, some don’t.

Maqbool Fida Husain, the great artist who passed away last month (1 day before I quit ‘work’) had quoted a poet in a book, a book I read 6-7 years back but I still remember the words clearly: “pinjare mein reh kar, pinjare se ho gayi ulfat; mein khud hi noch leta hoon jo mere par nikal aatey hain.”  Loosely translated: Living in a cage, I’ve fallen in love with it; I scratch my own wings when they sprout out.