Nostalgic Expressions
Born and brought up in a progressive middle-class family of Punjab , Alka was confronted with a great contrast of cultures . After completing BFA in Painting from College of Arts Chandigarh , she had to go to Banaras for pursuing a Master ’ s Degree and Ph . D . The immense pressure of a conservative and conventional society of Varanasi exposed her to myriad aspects of Hindu religion . It added positive charm to her personality , which became a perfect blend of conventions and modernism and this condensation of sensations started getting imprinted in her paintings .
Whether for sunrise or sunsets , walk to the Ghats , the essence of tea in Kuladhs , multifaceted religion , the chakra of life and death - brought Alka more close to reality and nature and enhanced the sensitivity as an artist . She started writing poetry and gradually her paintings became an intense concoction of words and images . All this paved a way out to carve her name on ‘ Art ’ -scape as a painter , poet , and researcher and form her own signature not only in U . P but also Punjab – ‘ 2 states ’ of which she is made of !!
Alka ’ s believes in Paul Cezanne ’ s saying : “ A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art .” Her thoughts are impregnated with the colored profundity of space enriched with feelings . Her life has been a journey of explorations and realizations , where the theme of ‘ Pages of my diary ’ played a role of her confidante and her creative reflections on every page . She enjoys a rendezvous with herself . In her paintings , one can come across journeys , imprints of Varanasi , reminiscences , nostalgia and misprints . Misprints are the symbolic representation of numerous failures which add to one ’ s success as a learning process . That ’ s how the concept of ‘ Something or nothing ’ came forward in her paintings . The present series of painting is on ‘ WE ’... it is Alka ’ s post marriage series and reflects the experiences of a new phase of life . Alka ’ s papers have been published in various national and international journals and she has many exhibitions , seminars , and workshop to her credit .
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