Japanese print

The Japanese style of ink paintings is little known in the Delhi art circle and has only a few practitioners. The group was formed informally in 2008,as Yuriko —she’s married to NGMA director Rajeev Lochan — and Aruna Vasudev,a cinema critic who started the Osians cine film festival,sat together “to paint for 2 hours,once in a week”. “Gradually,others joined us,” says Yuriko. Shobha Juneja,73,Vasudev’s cousin joined the group a few months later. “All the members in the group are familiar with the medium,having learnt it years ago by masters in Philippines. Now,we try to trace the path we had all tread years ago by practising in a group,” says Yuriko,as she shows the brush work kit at her Noida studio.

“The idea was to find others who work in the same medium,” says Vasudev. That’s how artist Mun Jang-Hee,a 30-something Korean was brought into the group. “I had seen her paintings at an exhibition earlier and invited her to join us,” says Vasudev. Mun Jang-Hee’s paintings border on the abstract– breathtaking landscapes to detailed forests.

“It is a very meditative exercise,very spiritual,something that you have to do with total concentration otherwise the paint can be all over the canvas,” says Juneja,who learnt brushwork from a Chinese master Hau in 1987 for five years. Recently,Yuriko mounted an exhibition of works done over two years at the Instituto Cervantes,the Spanish cultural centre. “In future,I would like to introduce the medium to students who are eager enough to learn,” smiles Yuriko.

The setting is not always Noida; sometimes the group crosses the Yamuna over to South Delhi with their brushes,rice papers and ink to paint at Vasudev’s Defence colony home. “But I like Yuriko’s studio more,where the light is excellent and one gets inspired by her works too,” says Juneja.