Images of India
Point of Origin (1999) Oil on Wood
I travelled in India for nine weeks at the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999. Our trip started in Mumbai and we headed down the west coast through Goa and Kerala to the southern tip of India at Kanyakumari. We then explored Tamil Nadu visiting Madurai, Kodaikanal, Puducherry, and Mahabalipuram. Crossing then to Bangalore we proceeded back to Mumbai and then spent the final three weeks in Rajasthan exploring Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Pushkar. We flew out to London from New Delhi.
India had a profound impact on me. I saw things I’d never seen before; the extremes of poverty, the seriousness of disability, the depth of religiosity, the brilliance of colour, the beauty of architecture, the stench of toilets, the opulence of wealth and the ecstatic joy of the simplicity of life.
I came back to my flat and work in London but couldn’t get India out of my mind. I’d made many sketches while travelling. I had no studio then but began painting India sitting cross-legged on my bedroom floor. For another job, I’d bought some plywood so I used what was left over of that to paint on and the dry, burnt effect reminded me of the desert in Rajasthan. It took nine months to make nine paintings. The paintings arrived as combinations of assorted sketches, photographs and memories. Then, what to do with them? Exhibit? I was nervous. Me, exhibit in London? People offered to help.
The “Images of India” exhibition was held at our flat on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in September 1999. It felt like India. One friend arrived with plates of samosa and onion bhaji. Another came in a sari and offered henna tattooing to guests. More than fifty people came and some even travelled from abroad. Six of the nine paintings sold in the few hours of the exhibition and they went to Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Suffolk and parts of London.
Another World Seen (1999) Oil on Wood
Karmic Bond (1999) Oil on Linen
'Karmic Bond' comes from a memory of seeing a group of pilgrims running up a mountain in what looked like indigo-coloured pyjamas bearing alms bowls. They had wild eyes and were calling loudly.
Above: Yesterday's Gardens (1999) Oil on Board
This is a composed scene based on the view from the back of our hotel room in Pushkar, Rajasthan. The marigold gardens had been cleared and there was a fire burning off the remaining stems and debris from the gardens. Marigolds are often used in Hindu temple ceremonies. The orange colours has been translated through the picture as a form of spiritual remembrance of the colour which was in the gardens.
Below: Detail of Yesterday's Gardens
