STAR: What is your inspiration for this series of painting?
ALKA. C: Nostalgia, memories,‘ something or nothing’, love, friendship etc.- all the reflected separately or even together in one frame at a few places in my paintings. My own experiences – positive or negative, events in my life, and simple things around me – all inspire me to express myself through my art which is an amalgamation of images and calligraphy that acts as a design in the background. My paintings are like a pictorial diary to me, in a way, where each page reflects similar or varied thought and stimulates the imagination further. My current series‘ WE’ is an articulation of numerous ideas, which crop in my mind from my bond after marriage. The act of putting things on paper is a psychological or emotional effort for me. What I draw or paint is what I feel. In this series one can see love birds, dates of the calendar which matter, house number plate, self-portrait, sand watch, a reflection of miscarriage through an installation of a baby mannequin with painting etc. The love, companionship and good and tough experiences inspire me. Like Alwin Nikolais said:“ I like to mix my magic’ s.”
STAR: How have you been so successful with marketing and selling your art?
ALKA. C: My work has been bought mostly by private collectors. Continuous participation in National and International group shows and workshop brought my work to notice and the word spread via family and friends. Some of the collectors are Randolph Williams, Head of Painting Deptt., Manhattanville College, New York( USA); S. K. Kanwar, Former CMD, New India Assurance, Mumbai; Dr. Tirthankar Bhattacharya, Coordinator, Dept of History of Art, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Mr. M. K. Aggarwal, MD Gati Cargo, Secunderabad( Hyderabad) A. P.; Govt Museum, Shaheed Smarag, Meerut; Sahitya Sanskriti Parishad, CCS University, Meerut; Dept. of Visual Art, HP University, Shimla; Nav Siddhartha Group, Delhi etc.
STAR: What style of art would you classify your art?
ALKA. C: It’ s really difficult to classify one’ s work in a particular style, especially in this era of experimentation. I think I can term it to‘ Expressionism’ – where for an apt expression I use mixed media to integrate my sensations into coherent painterly forms, where one can see intensification, clarification, and interpretation of experiences in various degrees. The brushwork is a declaration of my personal freedom where mixed media supports me in creating visual variety. In a few words, it’ s a correspondence between feeling, form, and technique, where my painting continues to change and grow at every step. The whole essence is to work the subject down to simplest form despite reflecting complex emotions or experiences. Like John Berger said-“ Drawing is a way of coming upon the connection between things, just like metaphor in poetry reconnects what has been separated.”
STAR: How did your art become so famous? ALKA. C: I’ m an Assistant professor in a Postgraduate College. My field kept me continuously involved in seminars, workshop, exhibitions, symposiums etc. In the process, my work started getting recognized due to uniqueness with my personal symbols, mixed media and use of script and collage in my paintings. Gradually my poetry became a part of the visual representation. The text became the element of design in composition. Studying in Art colleges paved out a way to come in touch with renowned artists and working with them in workshop and participations in various exhibitions with them gradually helped me in forming my own signature
STAR: Could you tell us about some interesting facts about your life? ALKA. C: My life has been a journey. I studied in Chandigarh and Banaras and then got a job also in Meerut. I had to travel frequently to my hometown Ludhiana. Not to forget to go to different places for attending seminars and workshop. I used to call myself‘ Alka on wheels’.
47