Tasting words, hearing colours

Is it really possible to ‘see a taste’? Well, that’s what Pune-based artist Dhanashri Sujit Deshmukh seeks to find out in her recent art show ‘Can You See A Taste?’. A collection of her sculpted paintings is being showcased at Delhi’s Dhoomimal Gallery.

The idea behind the title goes back to a time when Deshmukh consumed a raw tamarind, and experienced a heightened taste of sourness. She wondered if it was possible to translate that visually in her work to evoke the same emotion in viewers. The idea triggered her creative nerve, leading her to paint on paper the sourness that she felt on her teeth. “The sour feeling which I painted, is felt by everyone. But everyone likes different tastes, and the intensity with which one feels is also different,” she explained. This marked the first step for her to discover an entire world of multi and cross-sensorial expressions.

In her childhood, Deshmukh was overwhelmed by the subtle shades she observed in nature. “The grey tones and the pleasantness still intrigue me,” she confessed. Once, while travelling through a straight road surrounded by lush green beauty, she asked her father, “When the windshield covers the entire road, how can an approaching vehicle pass?” Another time, she asked, “Why does it take less time to return from a place where it took longer to reach?” Such questions led Deshmukh to explore the world with a creative lens.

At Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Fine Arts in Pune, she was introduced to various mediums. In those days, she was influenced by Van Gogh. “It is always inspiring to idolise someone who dedicates his entire life to what he believes in,” she explained. She took the unbeaten path in her early days to use her art to truly express her emotions. While everyone was expected to survey a wide spectrum of media and processes in their foundation year, Deshmukh was attracted to oil on canvas. Gradually, she began expressing what she felt and sensed around her. While reaching college once, she met with an accident, and instantly thought of what would happen if a piece of paper had had an accident. At that moment, she recalls putting cream and bandage on a piece of paper. “Whatever situation I am in — whether happy, hurt or in immense pain — I channel them all into my work,” she said.

Over a period of two decades, her experiments with abstraction have evolved, from flat colours to elevated colour patches and sculptural application of colour. “I have mixed acrylics with oils, and oils with sand. I ate charcoal, spat it on paper and painted. I mixed cement, shampoo, paper and flowers. As I was experimenting, I felt empty. The energy transformed into the work. The process gave me the energy to work again,” she elaborated.

Deshmukh has always attempted to try different methods to do the same thing. In her art, she has used her hands and feet, unconventional tools like squeegees, credit cards, knives, pieces of cardboard and discarded cloth. One day, while painting, Deshmukh impulsively felt like painting with her feet. She put the canvas on the floor, stood on it and painted with her feet. Needless to say, it was a very unique experience for her. Next, she painted with direct tubes on the canvas. Later, when she wanted broad lines, the effect of which she could not achieve with her fingers, she used cardboard. For smaller works, she used squeegee and credit cards, which resulted in thickness and broad lines. For bigger pieces of art, she used floor wipers. “The process of painting is highly exhilarating. The start is not planned, and the ending is unknown,” she said.

“We can see ourselves physically in a mirror, but our work shows us how we are from the inside. It captures that moment in both physical and visual formats,” further explained Deshmukh, who is a keen observer of colours, quotes, people, life and nature.

“I am always influenced by those who have done something out of nothing”. Due mostly to her non-traditional methods, her ‘action-painting’ style is reminiscent of the American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.

“Once we start painting abstract, we don’t know what the end is going to be. Layer by layer, we will know, and the work will tell us when to stop.”

The exhibition is on till Nov 30.