Inside-Out

The most luminous of yellows and the brightest of reds lose their purity if mixed with other colours, says Anjum Singh Anjum Singh's late...

The most luminous of yellows and the brightest of reds lose their purity if mixed with other colours, says Anjum Singh

Anjum Singh8217;s latest exhibition is a riot of colours 8212; red, yellow, pink and blue, with an occasional stroke of gold or brown. It seems her creative process begins with choosing a colour?

quot;Most times, yes. I decide upon a particular shade of colour and then take off from there.quot; And she uses pure8217; colours. quot;I prefer not to add black or white or any other colour. I somehow feel it has a contaminating effect.quot;

Does it have anything to do with the thought behind the work?

quot;Not really. I am more of a method painter. Not that my state of mind doesn8217;t spill over. That8217;s next to impossible for any creative exercise. But I work over a period of time. I consciously paint every day till I think I8217;m ready for the final product.quot; Anjum8217;s forms and figures are more diffused than her earlier works, leaving room for various levels of interpretation.

In fact, levels seem to be another dominant aspect of Anjum8217;s canvasses.

She has used the brush and the knife to create a layered effect for the desired texture . quot;Another new pattern I8217;ve tried in this exhibition is the striped margin.quot;

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Do we detect any influence from her parents, artists Arpita Singh and Paramjit Singh?

quot;In terms of support, certainly. In my work per se, I think I8217;ve imbibed a little bit of my mother8217;s ideas and forms. Nothing morequot;

Albeit reluctantly. In spite of being the only child of an established painter couple, Anjum was averse to becoming a painter when she was a child.

quot;I had too much of the arty8217; lifestyle of my parents. My mother would often land up at my school in her slippers and I would go red with embarrassment. I never imagined I would become an artist.quot; But her genes took over. By the time she finished school, Anjum couldn8217;t imagine doing something devoid of creativity. Her parents suggested she took up painting because she had anatural knack for it. Five years in Shantiniketan followed.

Is that where she discovered herself as a painter?

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quot;Not in the first couple of years. It was an ordeal in fact, to get used to the solitude of Shantiniketan after growing up in Delhi. But by the end of it, I knew I was on my way to becoming a painter.quot; But Anjum8217;s journey had just begun. She completed her masters in Fine Arts from Delhi University, before she went to the Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC, in 1992 to learn painting and printmaking.

And America made her more flexible?.

quot;I became more open to experimenting. The faculty expected me to do my own thing.quot; By then, Anjum was a professional painter in the making, with her works displayed in a few group shows.

She has come a long way since her first solo exhibition in Delhi three years ago. What next?

A Millennium Show at Sakshi Art Gallery, around the end of the year. And nothing more. quot;It8217;ll happen when it has to.quot; Or till the next colourflashes across her mind?