Abstract art of high merit has an extraordinary capability and inherent tendency to catch hold of the original thought process of a human being at the very innermost and root levels, said abstract artist Silajit Ghosh while speaking about his newly-launched book The Quest Within: Art of Silajit.

The beginnings of abstract art are hard to pinpoint. Yet, if a date for the beginning of abstract art had to be given, research suggests a general consensus around 1910. Abstract expressionism came into focus after surrealism’s rejection of traditional artistic conventions and focus on the artist’s inner world of dreams and fantasies as a source of inspiration.

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“The basic purpose of all genres of art is to express feelings, emotions, vibes, opinions and contradictions that surface up to the upper levels of the human mind from the deepest of its crevices, or subconscious or even unconscious levels, in a way that is capable of impressing itself upon one’s own and fellow minds in an aesthetic and extraordinary manner,” propounded the artist during an interview with The Statesman.

“Hence, the techniques and applied methods in creating good abstract art very often border on logics and processes that are far from the ordinary and defy acceptable definitions by extending and sometimes jumping over them. This in turn necessitates vigorous cultivation and exercising of in-depth knowledge and spiritual and/or intuitive wisdom by the artist,” he added further.

The artist returned after a 21-year hiatus with his first solo exhibition in two decades, along with the launch of his book, The Quest Within: Art of Silajit, on 14 November. The exhibition, directed by Reena Dewan, was divided into seven distinct series, exploring multiple dimensions of the human experience. The ‘Primitive’ series captured the essence of simplicity and raw expression. In contrast, ‘Frenetic Dance’ explored the chaotic beauty of life, with vibrant colours and energetic movements that seemed to dance across the canvas. His introspective side is revealed in the ‘Memoir’ series, which used calendars as a medium to reflect the mutable nature of memory. In ‘Alchemy’, he challenged traditional power dynamics by using gold and black to create transformative imagery. The ‘Wounds’ series, perhaps his most intimate, laid bare his scars, transforming them into a narrative of healing and resilience.

The Quest Within: Art of Silajit unfolds as a narrative of self-discovery, transforming years of silent reflection into profound artistic expression. Nanak Ganguly, the curator of the book reviews, Silajit’s technique is esoteric. The shapes and the substances, be it on canvas or on paper, assume a mental quality, representing a force of mind. This force could be predicted because of the fine and swift strokes he makes that come from layers upon layers of variously coloured acrylic on canvas and small- to medium-format pen and ink drawings on paper. Nanak Ganguly in the book minutely observes his art and records the artist’s underneath psyche. He said, “The wondrous shifts between intellectual processes and explicit physical activities reunite the cerebral spirit of the mind with the object dissolving into his painted space to nearly effaced-out markers trying to hold onto a grain, which he builds up in decisive stages of scraping, rollering and distanced markings. This is done quickly and often without conscious thought. The spontaneous effort is then judged by the artist, who frequently finds it unsatisfactory. Something is off: his balance was wrong, his attention flagged, the mark in some way fell short. If this is the case, Silajit immediately squeegees off, and the action repeats for as many times as it takes until he gets it right.”

According to Nanak, an ideal artist is not one who simply does not rehash the history of painting in their work. Instead, the art should unfold as if the space is traversed by a unified, singular gesture. History becomes a series of pauses and transitions, extracted or reshaped into an open narrative, which eventually collapses, bringing an incidental occurrence where humankind itself becomes an accident. This accident creates a space between two planes, where the contour no longer serves as the shared boundary between form and ground.

Silajit vividly describes his insights into his artistic process in the chapter, Introspections, of the book where he draws the age-old faculty of ‘Swara Yoga’ and the most modern concept of ‘quantum entanglement’ and ‘double-slit experiment’, proving at the sub-atomic levels, the state of matter and its behaviour depend solely on the act of observation by a conscious observer.

The artist said, “The sole objective of my art remains to keep on trying to maintain a state of deepest mental stance and merely observe myself as a medium of creation only and not as the creator himself. At the initial glance, my art should ideally inculcate a profound ‘sense of balance’ along with a wide and immediately impacting sense of peace, calmness and serenity. This is accomplished by complete surrender of all of my egotistical traits and letting go of all possible concerns pervading the outer reality. The whole process is carried out by means of contemplating the idea of absolute void, or the zero state, allowing art to happen automatically and grow organically, on its own. This very idea makes all my works seem to be a product of pure accident, always hovering over the razor-sharp edge between conscious personal effort and that of spontaneity and automation.”

The book has been designed by Pinaki De and mentored by Tapas Sarkar.

Spotlight

The Quest Within: Art of Silajit

By Silajit Ghosh

Virasat Art Publication, Kolkata, 2024

113 pages, Rs 5,000/-