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"From an art history point of view, prints
have long been a highly popular medium of expression. There have
been close links between prints and people's lives. Today, as
contemporary art is developing towards even greater diversity,
their role is bound to become even more important than in the
past. Prints are at once intimate and political, public yet private.
The role of a printmaker is two-fold. It requires a disciplined
exactitude and a sense of aesthetic beauty. It is most important
that a print communicates its message clearly and is accessible
to everyone.
I have been a printmaker and a painter. For some time now I have
been painting and enjoyed it immensely. In fact my printmaking
background was an added asset. Painting has been equally helpful
in my new series of prints, in encouraging a simpler approach
and technique. In today's contemporary art in India vis-a-vis
painting or sculpture, prints have been looked down on as a stepchild.
Of course, a lot of effort has been made to bring prints into
the mainstream of the art world in India, but have not been successful
as yet. One has to make a conscious effort to make the public
or art lovers want to own a print, make them understand that it
is as relevant and original as a painting itself. A close relationship
exists between a printmaker and his prints. The serial nature
of prints permits an artist to see and record the development
of their ideas, figurative or abstract.
Recently I have returned to prints with a new vigor, with a heightened
awareness of size and colour. The contents of these prints are
not in any way a diversification of my paintings. They do, however,
convey the same concern for human relationships and dialogues.
The series of serigraphs are an extension of the series of glass
paintings I had done. The luminosity of painting on glass made
me want to experiment with this medium, which is seldom used by
artists. There is a misconception that silk-screen cannot be a
very creative medium of expression, but to me, any medium is creative
if the artist acquires a significant expression within the frame
through colour and line and a transparent psyche."
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