Expression through strokes and giving them soul with colours is what makes a painting.
Paintings are usually a direct reflection of the painter’s mind. And Pablo Picasso was one painter who is known for his ground-breaking abstract paintings. From symbolism to cubism and more, his brushes have left their mark on almost all dimensions of art. And it is this creative legend that emerging artist Bharath Rajpal looks up to for inspiration.
Presenting his own new style called ‘Curved Mirror Cubism’, Bharath explains: “My work is based on the laws of light, concave and convex mirrors and amalgamating them with Picasso’s cubism. Cubism is a form of abstract art. I was inspired by how he always went for something new and off-road.”
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The artist claims to have his Eureka moment when he noticed the large safety mirrors on roads which are circular convex mirror.
“The distorted image of moving cars on it gave me an interesting concept to work on. I was always on the lookout for something different. Painting for me is not merely looking at something and putting it on canvas. I would rather infuse a pinch of my creativity and ideas into it to give it a completely different look.” Abstract was always his calling but cubism had a special space in his heart, he emphasises.
Talking about his inspiration and the catalyst of his passion, he says, “Picasso was always about elongated forms and distorted images. He was a rebel against contemporary art.” Bharath goes on to point out that in his work, he uses curved mirrors which Picasso had never experimented with. “I wonder if he understood curved mirrors at that time but for me, it is a discovery. It feels like taking his ‘master stroke’ one step further.”
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It took Bharath a lot of time and research on the nature of mirrors, their behaviour with light and the image formation. He started working with Picasso’s work and experimenting with curved mirrors. “I thought about how creative it would be to hold Picasso’s work in front of a distorted mirror.”
As a result, beautiful yet distorted figures and shapes were formed. “Picasso’s paintings are already abstract. Imagine how much more their reflection on a curved mirror would look.”
The idea of combining Picasso’s work with concave and convex mirrors was to create a whole new bizarre style that is different from Picasso’s, calling it Bharath’s own, yet reminiscent of ‘the master’. “It is this creative thrill that keeps me going, searching for new ideas and keeping me artistic instincts alive.”
Contact Bharath on bharathrajpal@yahoo.com.