Having seen Arunanshu's earlier works which were based more on historical period subjects and also works related to childhood memories, a move can be felt. It is obvious that he is in search of objects and images to enhance his experience of life. Along the way, he returns to childhood to reclaim and reestablish what he has already learnt.
Your works saw many references from a time by gone while your present body of work talks more about today. Aap ke kam mein there has been a sort of progression.
Memories from ones childhood still come back to inspire. They cannot be erased. The significance of a state of mind or object changes with time. Yet even in the unconscious, deeply embedded influences recur and return to take their place in a present context. Eventually no matter where I begin a work, the destination always remains the same and Ghoom phirkar I come back to the same place. Style may vary and be work specific but the underlying thought, the preoccupation with how time restructures everything remains. What appears to be the truth today could be totally the opposite tomorrow. The desire to be able to make things invincible is always challenged by the winds of change. I paint what I see around me, often these very things change even before I have finished that work, it is impossible for me to be removed from the force of transformation, which surrounds us in each sphere of life.
Past Present or the Future, what is it to be?
I don't live in the past. Nor do I want to. So it is the Present with the virtues of the past and ignorance to the woes of the future.
Lets go back to the very beginning, you never thought you would he an artist when you were young, not even when you started studying Fine Arts. How did painting happen to you? So, yeh - sob kaise shuru hua?
Even though there was an artist in my family, I was never drawn to the subject. It was only after meeting people acquainted with the arts, that I realized that this is what I had to do.
What made you choose to come to study and later settle down in Baroda?
lt could have been any place. Anywhere, Tum nahi to our sahi I just need to like a place. Each place I have been to has taught me something.
Is there any singular moment or person which or who left a lasting impression?
A person of no importance at a moment in time could be very influential at another time in reference to a particular ideology. So there would he lots ofpeople contributing to my thought process.
Several paintings impress with the vast multitude of images. Each jostling the other and eventually securing its own position on the canvas. Multiple repetitive images reassert their presence creating an aura of suspense and curiosity, The images continue even after the canvas ends. A reinforcement statement of certain philosophies and ideologies. A reminder of existence through persistence.
So Who really loves the jalebis?
My son is very fond of them. As for me, more than the taste, it is the thought of how tempting and complicated they are, is more enticing, hence becoming symbolic of the greed and gloss of the present day... the delights of gluttony.
Work is...
Ideas come from anywhere. There is always a link between any two things or thoughts or rather one can find or create interconnctivity between any two instances connecting them through a common space. Once a source is realized and mentally sorted out to a certain extent the physical work begins. If I feel I have the entire visual mapped out in totality and expect to just transfer it to the canvas and the painting is done, then that is not happening. I am not 100 % aware of what is going to follow the initial thought. A work is supposed to develop.
You play with colour and images to create a space within space.
There is no intentional manner of layering the surface to achieve a sense of - ambiguity through a reproduction of haziness. The realization of my world is in the midst of several spheres of emotions. A gradual assimilation sublimed by the presence of images is what I want to put forth. Each stroke is intentionally the way it is. Spontaneous and each a step towards the total picture. Even if the work changes in images and colour during the process of painting, each alteration is of importance and it adds to what the work looks like eventually.
Painting with passion and vigour demands total involvement and indulgence of the atist's collective senses.
Do you feel art is therapeutic?
There is a sense of freedom and satisfaction, which I get from my work. The issues my work deals with are globally relevant. The uncertainty regarding the future is every man's concern. The way in which each passing day brings about unpredictable changes is often a matter of joy and also of anxiety. Painting is a reflection of what my mind and eye captures. The hazy hues, the placement of images do not intend to jar the viewer's sensibilities but rather try to gently cajole him to enter my world.
Do you feel the need to innovate or renovate your visual language constantly?
The need to evolve determines a quest for exploration and experimentation. I don't want to intentionally limit my subject or myself. I create my own lines and rules.
You work on canvas, paper and now wire mesh.
A surface, is significant, not the material that is used. Yet experimenting in new media is always rejuvenating and inspirational, subject wise and technically as well. There need not be any logic behind the choice of media but something new provides another direcition„ another dimension.
Time changes everything.
With time one grows, personally as well as in ones field of work. The maturity of ones thought process comes with time. Acceptance adjustments and compromise are words that one uses for relationships. The way life in terms of domesticity revolves and evolves is an ongoing process and it obiviously affects one's psyche.
Say you have just finished a painting, How important is self - assessment?
It is necessary to give one time to contemplate. lntrospection and satisfaction do go hand in hand. One is one's own best judge when it comes to deciding whether I have been true to my thoughts but beyond that it is for the viewer to assess his, understanding of my work.
Chai cups, The Racecourse bird circle, and the sweet sticky jalebis. A lot that is close to the hearts and sensibilities of the people of Baroda. A solo show in Baroda, 8 years after your last one. Kaisa lagta hain?
Pata nahin, Sochna Padega.I guess this show is a tribute to the fact that I feel I belong to Baroda.
What makes this show different from your previous ones?
Well, I think I am at a stage where l can speak my own mind and do not have to get a critic to do psychoanalysis for me !!!
Gulliver and Bunty and Babli make their promise felt. The distinctively varied subjects of this body of works, be it the people ready to rush for the jalebis or the auto rickshaws tumbling away, add to the element of reality. Yet, when delved into, beyond the physical image, the essence of the artist and his paintings will withhold the test of time.
