REVIEWS

The terrace studio of artist Aarti Zhaveri , overlooking a neighbourhood park, leads one to conclude that her works must definitely be ‘plein air’ or open-air paintings focused on atmosphere, wind, light and its adherents utilized in small active brush strokes to capture  her perceptions. But once she uncovers the warps of her completed works neatly stacked for a forthcoming show, the illusion about outdoor paintings gets a different twist. Of course, there are elements of light and colour on her canvases but instead of the scenic details one there are facial masks, held aloft and distanced from the figure, provocatively sloughing off the make belief and uncovering the truth behind the drapery of a mask.

These dramatic masks then become the dominating element in the works as they became ways of understanding the true persona rather than serving as an agent of deceit masking the truth. Even more pertinent is the fact that Aarti defines her masks in definitive graphic outline and psychedelic colours that curve and twist across the facial surface like a slick of oil trailing across the water. The contours thus uphold a dramatic sense of motion emphasizing a delicate commentary on social interaction through delicate colour harmonies.

Such a refreshing insight from commonplace visual metaphors and associative symbols was the result of Aarti’s tutelage under the master sculptor Ankit Patel. Like all self-taught beginners, Aarti had taken her toddler steps into art with painting factual portraits, where the sole purpose was to produce a facsimile of the photograph she had propped up on her easel. Patel’s incisive observation: ‘Where is Aarti in the work?’ proved to be a prophetic turnaround.

‘I began searching for the real face lurking in the background of the visible face and this action was symbolized by the shift of the mask. So my mask came about as a means to identify the facial expression from the hidden expression of the face and it progressed to my making truncated shards of masks signifying that the real self is uncovered as a gradual process and not in one instance.’ And making sure that the masked presence did not deteriorate into serving a practical function only, she introduced interesting variations into her masked arrangements. To emphasise the divided persona of an individual, a creeper was included between the two facial halves. Elsewhere, a mask collective placed in an expanse of light, produced the right emotional response by the deliberate play of light on them. A work in grey undertones with the light fading into eerie sobriety suggested how humans were being engineered into becoming robots through modern-day lifestyle choices.

The greenish-blue backdrop of another work ingratiates ominous contrasts of fantasy and reality in viewers’ minds, suggesting the multi-dimensional approach to artistic expression in Aarti’s works. One of the direct offshoots of her mask series therefore has been her way of showing her patriotic side. When approached by a common friend Brig. P Bedi to take on the work of painting portraits of the Kargil Heroes, those stout hearts who had defended our borders on the battlefront of Kargil, Aarti was positive and forthcoming. Her trained eye and her instinctive capacity to unmask visages to their original status, came to her rescue, as her inimitable and lifelike portraits now grace the corridors of the Ministry of Defence and Aarti has now been appointed as official portrait artist of all Ashok Chakra and other Gallantry Awardees of the Indian Army.

In her latest avatar, this insightful artist has shifted from just painting on walls to installations that at the onset appear like mechanical gizmos. Unravelling their structure of piping, tubing, flickering lights and masks in between, one comes face to face with some startling contemporary realities. Yes, the mechanical arrangements, perfectly coordinated are depicting our present situation, where mechanical tools dominate our lifestyles. They even measure our emotions, with exactitude so that our laughter and our tears are emoted in the right doses. The smiles transfixed on faces are without a purpose and yet the cosmic music of the machinery throbbing to a beat, connect to nature all around. Their sounds merge with those of birdsong and fresh air and Prakriti is still left in control despite mechanical devices that are keyed to a drill. Centre stage to it all is a giant mask, epitomizing the beneficent inner being in all of us that is waiting to be discovered through Aarti Zhaveri’s richly varied colour tones, flowing lines and soothing concepts. That, in short in the real situation the here and the now that artists like Aarti Zhaveri have conceptualized with masked forms and their crucial placements.

Shubhra Majumdar