As Kolkata-born Neha Khaitan sits at her desk in her home-based workspace, she opens up her Macbook and revs up her Wacom graphics tablet. There’s a natural dancer’s elegance about her as she showcases some of her collages that are on display at ICONart Gallery titled ‘Imprints.’
On ‘Imprints’
“I have a lot of obscure thoughts on certain topics, and my being influenced by Frida Kahlo subconsciously propelled me towards collages to express them.” Self-Portrait by the late artist conveys a lot of pain from her time in medical care.
Another particularly resonating piece Neha created is Fragile , in which a man is hunched over with a demon looming over him. “I get affected by small disturbances, so there’s this butterfly effect that I feel. ‘Imprints’ reflects that personal journey. Broken Heart , one of my personal favourites, is based on the saying ‘a broken heart hides hidden treasures’ by Hams of Tabriz. There’s a melancholy about it— a feeling that some enjoy and loathe feeling. The heart, encapsulated by thorns, is split open and has flowers — or ‘hidden treasures’— emerging from it.”
Neha faced her fair share of challenges during the six month period of finalising the collection; finding images of the right resolution and being truly satisfied with the final artwork. “While doing one piece took about a week, the contemplation and going back and forth with ideas took some time, because getting images in the right perspective was tricky. Gauri Vemula, the chief guest at the inauguration, gave me a lot of insight on the specto-colour composition. Avani Rao Gandra also encouraged me from start to finish with my pursuit of art.”
The result is a cohesive and stimulating exhibition of natural human obscurity. Neha’s aesthetic that melds into the graphics provides an offbeat nature, portraying the mosaical nature of emotion. “The responses I received were very mixed and I completely accept that.”
Unbound in art
Neha, who used to be a computer engineer, decided her life needed a change; she started A Flower Child, an art initiative reflective of the counter-culture Summer of Love. As an untrained artist, she is aware of the bias that sometimes exists in art circles regarding art degrees, but is thankful to those who recognise the desire to express oneself, “I used to question myself a lot because of this, and I know my art is offbeat, somewhat irrational and not retinally pleasing. But I do have a message with what I create.”
A Bharatanatyam dancer as well, Neha shares there are interesting parallels between the two art forms, “There’s a saying, ‘what you show on stage is 60% of what you actually are,’ because there are so many factors there. When you do start, say, painting, you see how the paints dry and the colour quality lasts. Similarly, when you’re doing a live performance, you have the factors of stage lighting, costumes, space and audiences. So while you’re training, the quality really differs from what you’re practising.”
She also dabbles in ink on paper, each of which take about three days to complete. At times, she combines her methods to create mixed medium artworks. But Neha, like most artists, admits she does stop halfway and that there is a swathe of unfinished works under her belt.
Neha has also done quite a lot of illustrating for the publishing industry. Her contribution to Karadi Tales, a coffee table book for Priyanka Khaitan Fine Jewels and various artworks for Art for Causes are a sign that there will be more to come from the budding artist as she continues to follow her heart through the arts. With the spectrum of talent in the city, the welcoming community shows there’s always room for more.
