She is a talented young painter bubbling with possibilities and promises. From immersing herself into naturesacapes in her last collection, she now proficiently bristles with abstract imageries at her recent exhibition. Eighteen-year-old artist Ekta Singha is a talented painter from Kolkata who brandishes a steely resolve beneath the tender surface of fresh, youthful spirit. Setting her sights on a new future and awakening, this second year perky student of the Government College of Art and Craft currently showcases her seventh solo exhibition titled “Towards Tomorrow” at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata.
With a yen for rich vibrant chromes and multimedia to deck up her colourful splurge, Ekta lodges her determination to break barriers with a blend of diverse sources. “I intend to walk down the less-trodden track. What is seemingly impossible may be surprisingly feasible for me. So why not give it a shot before retreating into the den of conventions?” she wonders. Sounding resolute in her approach, she avows: “Paper, oil and canvas are the three most common and oft-repeated accessories in the art world. But here I’ve technically toyed with more than one medium to evoke a new genre of sorts.”
The rarely-employed canson paper or the hard cardboard-like arches paper form the base of her specimens. Mixed media is certainly not a streak of novelty to thrive upon. But how about interspersing water hues, acrylic paints and charcoal tints with soft pastel shades in one single composition? Revolutionary and offbeat, isn’t it? Well, call what you may. But one thing is definite that even Ekta’s staunchest detractors will pat her for her earnest zeal to experiment at an early age. From the confident brushstrokes to mingling of textures, she knows how to excel in her craft.
Nurturing a deep desire to carry out installation works, Ekta concedes with a glint in her eyes: “Installation is about composing something on a given space. But I want to try my hand at an installation on the canvas. Let’s see how it shapes up.” Incidentally, she refrains from concentrating on a single idea. Rather a barrage of themes crowds up in Ekta’s canvas to reflect a menagerie of relevant subjects to mull over. The content is vast and varied. Be it monopoly of manpower, human bondage as stringed puppets, sharp acumen in a chessboard game, claustrophobic lives in square box-like establishments, creation of creases on smooth plains, simplicity in pallid existence, a muddle of mundane matters, orphaned destitute in safe and secure lap of the compassionate Saint (Mother) Teresa, butterflies as tinctured winged beauties — Ekta practically shines in every slide of her aesthetic vision. Priced between Rs 8,000 to Rs 40,000, the array of artworks on display has already attracted a cache of discerning connoisseurs and patrons to loosen their pursestrings and lap up a bulk of eye-catching purchases. Most of the pieces come across as collector’s items. And art is a prized asset for every curator’s cabinet under the sun.
Showing scintillating sparks in her collective compositions, Ekta’s effort to break out of her usual mould brings her under a new spotlight this season. Her sense of gritty maturity is here to stay and evolve with the times ahead. Her present works of art indeed flaunt her zest for life. Besides esoteric manifestations exploding on her canvas, a maze of realistic incidents also finds room in her repertoire. Based on human life and emotions, it is her effervescent vim and vitality, that speak oodles for her ardent passion towards her craft. “Everywhere, the land sharks are wreaking havoc in the name of building factories for either industrialisation or creating special economic zones (SEZs). But what about the dwindling plight of the farmers who have so long been cultivating on the seized multi-crop fields and sowing food grains to feed their under-fed mouths. Have they been properly compensated in coerced exchange of lands? Is it justified to make them a pawn in the agriculture versus industry tug-of-war? In one of my paintings, I have shown a scarecrow being set ablaze. The burning flames have completely engulfed the effigy which used to earlier scare away the crows from damaging the crops. Now the black birds cowered in one corner take delight in watching their bully being charred in fire. It’s a twist of fate for them, actually. Albeit their offender dies, they can’t prey upon the vegetation as it will be uprooted from the soil to implement a row of productive machines,” she says.
Ekta always believes in discovering a silver lining in the cloud after a squall blows past. “Hence, in another frame, I’ve coloured the sun green to keep the hope afloat. I know there is light at the end of a tunnel. We don’t need to grope for it but have patience for it to flicker at any moment,” she says.