New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Across the 26 works being exhibited by him, a common invisible thread runs steadfast — the desire to see beyond.
With his latest solo titled ‘Echoes of Unfathomed Worlds’ at the Vadehra Art Gallery (on view until January 19), artist Jagannath Panda explores a cosmic understanding of every day through an amalgamation of his old and new style — his last solo ‘Crystal Cities’ was held in the year 2017.
Be it the processed photographs of bodies in motion, canvasses or sculptures built from collage-making, paper-mache, rice paper, rice weed, fabric, auto paint, plywood and found objects — including plastic toys, and Lego from his son’s childhood, besides cut-outs from almanacs and gardening book — the artist, using multiple mediums takes a glance back and delves into newness with intuition.
“You will notice that the work is different in terms of imagery, something that happens unconsciously. I have been continuously searching for possibilities of looking at new things. In a way, I have tried entering into abstraction and attempted to look at a more cosmic space, a space that resembles the wide open sky where multiple images evolve and dissolve. This exhibition has lent me new possibilities of thinking and creating unfound paths,” he tells IANS.
With works referring to the cosmic man, he says everything is being “seen”. While there are two works about a gardener, one of them looks like ‘Viswaroopa’.
“The evolution of the works has been a very organic process. The second work is in a wooden box and it looks like a large lego structure, looking at which one gets an impression of the ‘Aadipurush’. It gives an impression of a structure of a city, and within that, there are multiple collage drawings.”
Adding that he has intentionally used multiple mediums as the work covers a long period — both pre- and post-Covid, Panda who has a special fascination for architecture, says, “Architecture has forever held an important place in my heart. It is a passion. And the ideas of geometry and forms talk about the collective identity and society. This stream also lends liberty to talk about the community and hierarchy,” he says.
Stressing that inside him a constant process of finding a theme, deciphering what makes him curious, and then creating a language, the artist adds, “I try and build something from a thread left in the past. This approach gives me the possibility of inventing a new language. The same holds for my current work too which I am sure will be a stepping stone to what I do next.”
The artist, who also runs an art foundation ‘Utsav’ in his home state of Odisha that brings young and senior artists together, says, “We look closely at global art practices. Our recent project stressed exploring the artist’s voice in a gallery ecosystem. The consistent dialogues with major artists broaden youngsters’ horizons and also acquaint them with newer possibilities hidden in their own works.”
