Changing Tracks: The Parting Painting

Anjali believes that art, like theatre, poetry or music, is a medium of communication, of expression. It is a language that wants to "˜speak' to the viewer. If this dialogue happens, then, she believes, the creation is complete. Anjali's works are ruminative and offer understated comment, tongue in cheek observations, or then, sometimes, quirky, ironic asides. She explores an aesthetic that interprets personal expression in its social context and presents a perspective that suggests such a construction. She would like her art to speak at various levels, to achieve a "˜layered realism', where concrete objects stand as metaphors for an abstract idea. In a reversal, perhaps, of abstract art she attempts to work her paintings - ostensively "˜figurative' - to suggest or represent an abstract thought. She has been a witness to the sad history of Mumbai metropolis and most of her works reflect her exploration of this relation with her land. She would like her work to testify to what the city has stood for - to capture, preserve and archive its bylanes, mills, behemoths, alleys, staircases, chimneys, Irani cafes, chawls, corridors and doorways not only because they are part of personal as well as collective memory but also because they have symbolized, defined and shaped the complexion of Mumbai, the warp and weft of the social fabric of this city and the character and spirit of its people. Anjali also writes poetry and fiction but then, that's another story elsewhere... She lives, works and walks her dog in Mumbai.