Artline

Chandigarh is my real home even though I have lived in Canada for thirty years but this is where I will always belong '' says Rania, a ...

8220;Chandigarh is my real home even though I have lived in Canada for thirty years but this is where I will always belong 8221; says Rania, a Canada based painter who visits India religiously almost every year. Inspite of the three decades in a foreign country, the local essence is very much alive in his sensibilities.

Grandson of a school teacher in the village Rania in Punjab, Rania finished college from Moga, and graduated from the college of Art, Shimla in 1959. On graduation, Rania immediately got a job at the Punjab University, Chandigarh as its assistant director. 8220;I established the institute. I was working according to a scheme started by the All India Handicrafts Board. We were trying to develop the folk motives of Punjab and put them into handicrafts, textiles, pottery, jewelry, woodwork, carpets and rugs. It was a very ambitious program at the time8221;, says Rania.

But that was not enough for Rania, he only wanted to be a full time artist. In 1968 Rania decided to leave Chandigarh for England from where he proceeded to Canada. 8220;Though I was trained as a commercial artist and also worked in the institute of design, deep inside I always wanted to be a painter and I thought if I stay here I won8217;t be able to paint. I went to England for three months and then further on to Canada. Ever since then I have been painting 8221;, say Rania with a quiet contentment.

Intially I started painted figurative distortions which were actually an after effect of the poverty I had seen in and around the areas of Chandigarh and Punjab at the time when I was leaving for abroad in the late sixties,8221; says Rania. His work became more experimental as time went by. He innovated and experimented with materials. 8220;My works became more symbolic and abstract. I painted abstract from for about 10 years in a crylis, before which I was only working with oils. I have done pastels, water colors and drawings8221;.

Rania further explored the world of expressionism, symbolism and semi figurative art.8220;In the last 4 years my work has been more or less autobiographical. All that I have been doing in the last 25 years I have been putting all that together8221;, says Rania.

Even though his work is very much in tune with the contemporary trends in painting, trend is not important to him. He is in a singular pursuit of excellence. 8220;The question is not as to what kind of art it is, the question is also not if we are keeping in trend with the west, the main point is that it should be good. The environment of every country effects the psyche of an artist differently8221;.

His latest series is 8220;The Sun and The Moon8221;; the sun is the man and the woman is the moon and together they create life. He gives the feminine virtues a high place, 8220;a woman is the most powerful force in the world, she is not only an inspiration for the artist but for the world as a mother, wife and a beloved. I feel that she is the pivotal power in the world,8221; says Rania. His works have a strong symbolic note with physical foregrounds with spiritual and meaningful backgrounds.

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Rania is now working with water colors. 8220;I use light and dark applications and also layers of colour till the time I reach a point of satisfaction8221;, says Rania. A disciplined artist, Rania, paints religiously everyday- preferably in the mornings and evenings and if the painting is really large and needs to be finished, he works during the day as well. He uses vibrant colours in his works which highlight a sense of optimism between the lines.

Rania would be here again next year, with an exhibition either in Delhi or in Chandigarh.