Kinetic Symphonies

‘Kinetic Symphonies’ welcome to the world of Suparna Mondal.

To find tranquillity in the sea of eternal contrast and contradictions, to create music with stability and movement, with thoughts such as these I invite you to the symphonies created by Suparna through her paintings and installations. In this exhibition, we have displayed works of art representing Suparna’s journey from Haldia to New Delhi. Her transition from an industrial and rural landscape to a metropolitan city like New Delhi – the capital of India. 

Trained at Kala Bhavan in printmaking (Graphic Art), it was not the serene and rural landscape of Santiniketan rather the industrial landscape of Haldia – “with metallic colours, booming sounds of construction and bright lights emitted from various factories,” accompanying Suparna’s approach to Kinetic – Art. Like for any person, memories from their childhood tends to have a lasting influence on their adulthood. Suparna speaks of Haldia, a major port located in the industrial belt of West Bengal, with its numerous ‘karkhanas’ or workshops as a major influence in her artistic practice. 

Her recollections of Haldia are not only nostalgic memories but a source of inspiration to represent modern urban life through architectural forms, geometric shapes and bright colours. Suparna’s rendition of the ‘everyday urban’ focuses on the beauty of technology and construction. According to Suparna, the ‘line’ and the ‘dot’ are metaphors for stability and movement. The various genres in paintings do not matter to her, because it is the contrast of colours and materials that drives her to recreate her immediate surroundings. Therefore the line and the dot from being mere tools of drawing become vehicles of mediation and introspection.

For Suparna scale is an important aspect of her praxis. The idea of scale is not just about size or canvas frame, but like a door, through which the viewer can enter the symphonic visions created by the artist. Scale also enables Suparna to build numerous layers on a single surface, just like the human skeleton is layered with flesh & muscles, giving purpose to an inanimate object. The works presented in this exhibition might be strikingly different from one another, however they resonate with Suparna’s interest in the dynamic nature of urban living. It is the hustle – bustle of cars , high rise buildings and people synchronised in an ever moving flow or verse, layered with materials that are symbolic of industry and construction. Her application of colour is unique, in the sense she is able to create a feeling of movement by combining complementary and contrasting colours within the same visual plane.