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VEENA JAIN

A Tranquil Journey

A Tranquil Journey

Works of Veena Jain visually enchant us, and their intent captures our imagination to the core. Her soft, delicate-looking images, suggestive of some leaf from a manuscript of an archive; brought to the fore in its present form; or which in its making. are truly evocative. At the retinal level, these images have a soothing, sublime feel to offer. And at the level of the heart and mind, they instill in us a curiosity of a rare kind—where one starts getting signals from one's own memory, to realize that even the unfinished; incomplete, indecipherable and lost, have a content of their own. She does not seem to weave any narrative from these paintings (and forms) but invites us to weave our own narratives, around them, if so desired. Her colors, with the delicacy of tones and shades- very much akin to the colors of a butterfly. of a dry or green leaf, a mud wall or an old pale sheet of paper- abound in sensitivity, and in a 'touch of lightness of being'.

She makes her own pigments, from tealeaves, from green Mehndi, from Awala and the likes, to evoke in us certain regard for the fragile and seemingly impermanent things. Thus creating within us a fresh ground, where one becomes truly appreciative of the very creative process — a process in which certain things are being retrieved, and at the same time being created as well. This dual feeling of referring to the past, and present, simultaneously, is the hallmark of her works. We tend to look here at the images, as though they belong to the past, and have a history of their own. Yet being unsure of this, we also try to believe, that these images are being created instantly — emerging from nowhere. The suggestion of elusive letters and undecipherable words or lines from a script is a way here to transmit certain 'visions' and emotions, with purity. As one mutters a prayer song, these works seem to mutter an offering of peace and tranquility. One hopes, that these works of Veena Jain will not only be appreciated by the discerning viewers, but would also be seen, as the veritable feast for the eyes, and would be remembered fora long time. The closures and enclosures, and their folding and unfolding, in these works will not be missed, as they relate to a certain stricture, where dwells the very realization of a tranquil journey; for the artist, and for us.

26' July 2015

New Delhi

- Prayag Shulda