Geometry in Art

“It changed the way I was drawing,” she says. From formerly doing larger works on canvases with oil paints,she began doing smaller,architectural and geometrical drawings on the pages of these ledger books. But she couldn’t use just any ledger. Her preference was for books that were over a 100 years old. This passion for antique ledger pages,which she admits is something of an obsession,has led to a library full of such books. A collection of her work is on display at Galerie Isa,Fort in Mumbai. This is the American artist’s first exhibition in India.

This,however,is not Despont’s first visit to India. In 2009-10,she spent a year travelling around the country on a Fulbright Fellowship. “I saw the cave paintings in Ajanta and Ellora,the architecture in Rajasthan and a number of Jain temples,” she says. Then she travelled to Pondicherry where she met a French-Canadian mountaineer whom she recently married. While their actual wedding was in Canada,their “spiritual wedding”,she says,was held at a venue a few hours from Jodhpur last month,with the henna still visible on her hands and feet.

It was during this trip three years ago that the artist conceived the idea of this exhibition,titled “Long Distance Gardening”. “I’ve always been inspired by traditional art,religious iconography and Indian miniature work,” she says. Apart from these artistic influences,she was inspired by the colours she saw during her time in the country. “I know it’s a cliché,but the colours I saw here were very refreshing and inspiring,” says Despont.

As with all her other work on these ledger pages,these drawings,too,lie between two genres. “My work tries to find a balance between the abstract and the figurative. Sometimes there are eyes and faces that are apparent,but I usually like to leave it open to interpretation,” she says.

In the two largest works on the ground floor of the gallery,for instance,Long Distance Gardening,Left Palm and Long Distance Gardening,Right Palm,the viewer might easily spot two human figures in dresses,or kurtas,with outstretched arms. From up close,however,each page appears to have a different,yet beautiful and intricate pattern.

Like these,much of Despont’s work consists of framed drawings placed side-by-side,like a diptych. This pattern of couples,she says,developed after she started drawing on these ledger pages. “The format of a book (with left and right pages) changed how I drew,” she says. “Left and right is about symmetry,to create balance in my work,” she adds. In the two panels of Long Distance Gardening,for instance,she explains that the two figures could well be a couple whose outstretched arms meet when the panels are brought together.

Not all depict human couples though. A series of four smaller works titled Constellation Symptom,done on pages picked up in Jodhpur,for instance,show celestial objects. “I’ve always been interested in the night sky and constellations,” she says. “These are also couples in a way. The two panels show the balance in a relationship,” she adds.