Preface

When a child below 5 years of age starts painting without having to understand what she is going to paint, it is an oceanic feeling that captures her entire being to see the painting drawn. At this stage the child kicks the chair against which it has stumbled. For this child, everything has life and is related to every other thing in this world including the artist herself. It is in this primal perception of identity that a child is all set to give stroke of colors on a paper. In such an unconditional contingency the painting does itself; color, rhythm, motifs happen to be the product of consciousness, where the subject and the object of painting are unified into one. Therefore great artists, painters, poets, musicians have a lot to learn from the ways the child paints.

Given a chance, all children of this age group would show up this trait of artistry, if they are not interfered by so called wise parents, teachers, and members of their social peer groups.

Minal did these paintings when she was only three and going on four. In each painting of her I notice movement and rhythm to be co-present. Even with the simplest of strokes she gives by her pen or brush, the movement is so conspicuous that the beholder would encounter life force sneaking up on him or her. Even in her attempts to create a shoal of fish, or the archetypal and mythical Krishna sneaking butter (makhan), her strokes are asymmetrical and yet complete with movements. Let me put portions of such patches.

One would easily feel the force of life the paintings of Minal are palpitating with. Here, everything is human centric. The little artist slowly moves from “Every thing is like me” to “Every thing is me”.

‘Asymmetry’ and ‘Balance’ go hand in glove in Minal’s painting – from her paintings on creature to that of nature. This ‘asymmetry-balance’ synthesis, the dialectics of which have always made the ancient Indian paintings so bountiful and fabulous, is going to pave the way for  the modern artist as well.

I believe, so long Minal is herself, she would make a wonderful painter. I am all blessings for her.

Srikanta Mohanty

 9th April 2015

Dr. Srikanta Mohanty, Ph.D.

Corporate HRD Consultant, Poet, and Art Critic

email: mohanty.srikanta@gmail.com