The Hindu Business Line : No mask, no pretence

An increasing number of women artists are painting the human nude form. These painters are held in high esteem in art circles and their works sell briskly.

Kanchan Chander... Body is the expression of the soul.

For centuries, painting the human form nude has been a serious form of art expression in India. But the last few years have seen several contemporary women painters using the nude form more boldly. For these painters, this is not a passing fancy but an artistic idiom that is no longer couched in inhibition or titillation.

Take the case of Shiffali Wadhwan who held her exhibition recently at Delhi's Lalit Kala Academy. Her wistful nudes cluster in a companionable manner on her canvases. For her they are symbols of a woman's inner feelings.

"The lack of clothes shows the strength of a woman," says Shiffali, who uses the real-life touch. "A model brings life to the work which can otherwise be missing. Nudes have been painted for ages. For an artist, it is nothing but a form of expression and it is in no way taboo," says this graduate from London's Slate School of Arts.

Her exhibition featured various moods of women but the one that caught the eye was the painting of a woman lying on the lap of another. "It has nothing to do with lesbianism. I just wanted to show the intensity of relationship that can exist between two women, the support and strength that one can provide to the other," says Shiffali.

While Shiffali concentrates on the female form, Nitasha Jaini is fascinated by the male. Nitasha has been doing male nudes for over a decade. "The men in my work symbolise love, tenderness, sensitivity, spirituality and vulnerability. What I find fascinating is their tendency to get hurt easily," she says.

But why are her men undraped? "Mother nature didn't drape us in clothes when we were born. For me nudity means no pretences, no masks and complete freedom. But since society does not give me that freedom, I express myself on canvas."

Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is something that is found in abundance in Kanchan Chander's works. She is prolific in the use of the nude form. "To express the inner being with clothes seems a bit silly; when I draw the figure I am not talking about a person in a social environment. The stance is an inner expression of the being. It is basically an abstracted image and the body here is the expression of the soul."

She adds that her works aren't "complete nudes. They are abstract. I do parts of the body — maybe the torso or the head or legs. I generally paint female torsos through a woman's eye. To me painting nudes isn't a conscious effort; it comes naturally. I admire a woman's beauty, to me she is a symbol of fertility and motherhood."

But are nudes consciously used as a form of expression? No, says Shiffali, "The subject uses me. I don't decide that I will paint a nude. I paint whatever is suitable as a form of expression in my paintings. It is my frame of mind that decides."

All these painters are held in high esteem in the country's art circles and their works sell briskly. But do these women feel uncomfortable doing the nude form?

Definitely not! "The temple images are a part of our folklore. Apart from a few occasions when the male viewer has reacted unhappily to my work, there hasn't been any apprehension. Moreover, people are now more aware of art and not so shocked any more. Of course, if I exhibited my work in the streets, it would be different. If I had to paint in cramped places full of people, perhaps I may not have painted this. The environment makes the work," she adds.

Well-known artist Anupam Sud, who has been successfully painting nudes for years now, says, "If you drape forms, you are limiting them to a culture or a community, whereas art is universal. There is no need in my work to clothe forms. I feel that takes away from the beauty of the subject. I admire the human form but I find the male form more beautiful. The female form is more organic. But then, my choice depends upon my theme."

There are other women painters like Arpita Singh whose paintings have an occasional undraped form. "Painting nudes is a different attitude altogether. I don't see art in that fashion. Whether my (nude) figures are central or towards one side of the canvas, they are like any other thing in the painting. I am not basically a figurative painter," she says.

Similarly, in Malbika Goldar's works, the presence of the nude form is supportive of a theme she wants to convey. "Some years ago when I was in London, I did a painting on the relations between men and women. My work was titled Something Between You and Me. It showed a nude male and female with a paper mask between them. It was a very contemporary and relevant work."

India's leading woman artist, Anjolie Ela Menon's creations have stirred an altogether new interest in this art form. Because, as she puts it, women who paint nudes approach the subject with a deep sympathy. "It is only a woman who has the power to truly understand the innermost thoughts of another woman which are depicted in their paintings," she says.

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