COLOURS OF FINE ARTS

Black is not just a colour in my artist palette, it's a VOICE

By Sonal Raje

VIDEO - SONAL BEHIND THE SCENES - https://youtu.be/-4dy_IfVDv4

One that can only be heard in black.

Not in any colour.

Not any shade of gray.

Pure black.

Definitive.

Unapologetic.

Unerasable.

I paint at night.

It is dark outside.

My canvas is bathed in light.

There are bottles of fluid colour on my table.

I reach out toward one.

Then another.

And another.

Washes of paint bathe the canvas all through the night.

I begin to see a story unfolding.

Each colour is a character in the story.

Each has its own voice.

I let them all have their say.

The symphony is in full swing.

Finally, it is time to reach for the black.

The colours are stunned into silence, trembling as the liquid darkness flirts with each.

Outside the dawn breaks.

The first rays of sunlight stream onto the canvas.

I trace the beam with a streak of white paint.

The last wave of the conductor’s baton.

Over the years what has been said on my canvases is a compendium of essays that recount my impressions of life.

The documentation of my life experiences.

Snapshots of my mind through abstract art.

I had exhausted every shade and nuance of every colour in the rainbow.

Until one day, a strange phenomenon occurred.

As the black paint was unleashed on the colourful canvas, it took on a life of its own.

Swirling in circles. Expanding across the canvas.

Flowing over the edges.

I was mesmerized by this devilish dance staged in my studio.

I waited with bated breath for sunbeams to fill the room.

It never happened. I never reached for the white.

The world had come to a standstill.

It was a snapshot of the collective experience of mankind in 2020.

I could only gaze at the canvas in front of me.

The black night held sway.

As I stared into its depths, I felt a strange feeling of peace.

I began to love this place of respite.

No crowd, no words. Only the symphony of silence.

Where all is ONE.

The Beginning and the End

The Search and the Discovery.

The Mortal and the Divine.

Life and Death.

Bubble

Bubble 2

Flight

Fearless

Carousel

Divergence

Wings of Faith

Cosmos