Wednesday, December 31, 2008

With its chastity we can certainly live in our own worlds

Santosh Verma
Friday, November 28, 2008
Inflections of Delight

An artist like Santosh discards the outward appearances of nature, not as material for observation but as an idiom of expression. He needs nature and cannot divorce himself from it. But he can pierce the outward in search of the inward life. At its base are still the varied patterns of unfolding life, in flowers, plants, grasses; the texture of the stones, shells, bark; the sound and movement of water and of bird and insect life; the subtle inflection of cloud and mist and the changing sky are still the sources of his delight.

Many in these days of abstraction believe they have transformed nature to a still more elevated articulation. Unfortunately, quite a bit of what is described as abstraction is random and inchoate. These artists do not seem to have felt the charm of root reality, that is, of nature on their pulse. I believe Santosh is one of those who has so felt it. What he has succeeded in doing is to give nature a fresh incarnation. He draws out its essence. Here, in his work, it is this we invariably taste with our eager eyes.

He has evolved new ways of suggesting the interwoven rhythms by which the visible word is permeated. Thus he does something far more ‘deeply interfused' as binds together the patterns of shell, the thrust and the swell of the sea, the slant of light upon a leaf, the flight of a bird and a feather fall upon a mossy stone. But none of all this is literally so, purely imaginatively.

This is well groomed art, which can do more than delight. It can also enlighten. Experiencing works of this chaste order we as if stand at the mid point of a pendulum's swing--a pendulum of experience that swings outward into both the light as the life around us, and inward into ourselves. Resultantly, thanks to it we seek to penetrate and inform ourselves about the reality that lives deep within us. With its chastity we can certainly live in our own worlds; look upon it and sense it, for it is the stuff of experience that the artist in the viewer, also, seizes upon, and invests with fresh meanings.

I do think Santosh's 'abstraction' enriches our vision. It is not a mere escape or sedative. The overly jangled big city nerves will surely calm themselves with the decorum that there is in his compositions Keshav Malik Posted by Santosh at 7:43 AM Santosh Verma, Residence SRB-94B, SHIPRA RIVIERA, INDIRAPURAM, GHAZIABAD-201 010 E-Mail – santoshverma1956@hotmail.com Studio B-403, NEELPADM-1, VAISHALI, GHAZIABAD-201 010 View my complete profile Thursday, November 27, 2008 Paintings
65X65cm Acrylic On Canvas, 65X65cm Acrylic On Canvas, 90X120 cm Acrylic On Canvas, 60X75cm Acrylic On Canvas, 90X120 cm Acrylic On Canvas
7:13 AM Sunday, November 23, 2008 Water Colour 8:12 AM

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A stunning modern-day architectural conception

Matrimandir Meditation Centre
Posted under Religion by gems78 on Monday 22 December 2008 at 5:58 pm

Auroville, in the former French colony of Pondicherry, is an independent settlement inspired by the spiritual teachings of Sri Aurobindo. Intended to be an ideal city for spiritual seekers, it is steadily evolving according to the master plan drawn up by Mirra Alfassa, known for Aurovilians as the Mother, the Paris-born spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo.
A stunning modern-day architectural conception, situated in an expansive landscaped area referred to as Peace, the meditation centre takes the form of a golden globe appearing to rise out of the earth as a symbol of spiritual consciousness. The centre takes its golden hue from cladding formed of stainless-steel discs coated with gold leaf.
There are no organized rites or symbols within this space to distract visitors from their thoughts or direct them toward a specific religion. The Matrimandir Meditation Centre was conceived simply as an embodiment of peace. In its remarkable meditation chamber, one can rethink one’s self – an experience truly worth having. Design and Culture Dance floor of design and culture