Alka C Harpalani

India

Alka Chadha Harpalani

“As my feeling, form and technique are in a constant flux, my painting continues to change and grow at every step”

Alks Chadha Harpalani was born and raised in Punjab, India. She got her education from Chandigarh, and then later in the holy city of Varanasi. Alka is currently settled in Bangalore,

Exposure to contrasting cultures and myriad aspects of Hindu religion in Varanasi, added a positive charm to her personality - a perfect blend of conventions and modernism. This condensed sensations started getting imprinted in her paintings and became an intense concoction of words and images. One can see the extracts from culture, poetry and even prints of religious books. A simple thing like a flower, a platform ticket, an envelope, boats on the banks of the Ganges, birds or even the art on a calendar can inspire her. There is a sensitive orchestration of simple forms from reality to recreate a new altered reality. Like a master magician, she takes different mediums and merges it together in her ‘painted installations’, that create an open dialogue with the viewer.

Her art is an amalgamation of images and calligraphy - like a pictorial diary, where each page reflects a thought, stimulating the viewer’s imagination a little further. She says, “In my art, one can see intensification, clarification and interpretation of experiences in various degrees. My brushwork is a declaration of my personal freedom where mixed media creates a visual variety. it’s a perfect correspondence between feeling, form and technique, where my painting changes and grows with every stroke of my brush.”

THIS PAGE: TREASURED MEMORIES - mixed media - 6 x 8 in - 6 x 6 in

OPPOSITE PAGE - CLOCKWISE TOP LEFT: YOU & ME - UNFINISHED STORY NOSTALGIA - 33 x 42 cm KNITTED TOGETHER - mixed media - 24 x 24 in YOU & ME - 133 x 20 cm

As Alka began to write poetry her paintings became this intense concoction of words and images.

THIS PAGE - CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PRECIOUS KEEPSAKES - mixed media - 22 x 22 in | 10 in (hut) TOGETHERNESS - mixed media - canvas, wood, fibre - 17 x 34 in YOU & ME - 133 x 20 cm YOU & ME - 133 x 42 cm

OPPOSITE PAGE - CLOCKWISE: TRAVEL DECOUPAGE - mixed media - 8 x 10 in | 6 x 6 in | 10 in hut

Alka’s art is an amalgamation of images and calligraphy - like a pictorial diary, where each page reflects a thought, stimulating the viewer’s imagination a little further.