Nature-friendly art

Featuring textile paintings by renowned artist Sangeeta Gupta, Prithvi Fine Art and Cultural Centre presents a solo exhibition named “AadiYogi Shiv – A Journey in Cosmic Indigo.”

Gupta chooses to use organic indigo colour and dye to produce a painting on natural sustainable khaddar cloth aiming to revive natural indigo painting. Conceptualized in December 2019, she started the actual painting a year later on 25 February and worked for nine days in Ratalia village, Sanganer at Shilpi Sansthan.

“I first painted with dabu, a muddy paste with brush and then put sawdust on it and then sun dried the painting. After that it was soaked in drums of indigo dye and then washed and dried again”, she says as she explains the process of painting.

Elaborating on her inspiration for the painting, she says, “These works are born out of infinite, formless energy of Aadiyogi Shiv, Ardhnarishwar, the ultimate feminist. There is no beginning, no end, all encompassing, omnipresent Shiv is present in all of us.”

“We have to return to the basics if we want to survive in peace. Handmade fabric is environment friendly and natural colour and dye are handmade too, they are chemical free. Therefore, to promote sustainable living and promote natural indigo I decided to create this painting that is abstract, conceptual, and minimalist”, she adds.

Gupta has done 35 solo exhibitions of paintings, published 25 books of which 10 are also translated in other languages, and made 30 documentary films so far. In her later exhibition, she wishes to revive tradition and nature-friendly practices of art to “revive indigo cultivation, a cash crop, and make it a commercially viable venture for farmers, dyers and craftsmen.”