HeART & Soul - The Emerging Awareness of Spiritual Art

Artist: Prof. Sudhakar Chavan

By Avanika Mote

For Pune Mirror, Times Group.

Art being a form of true expression of one’s heart and mind, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that an artist lives through his painting. Is it our time to taste the spiritual essence of it all?

When Pune Mirror rendezvoused with National Level Senior Artist, Prof. Sudhakar Chavan, he pointed out that there is a huge international market for paintings and sculptures that depict spiritual emblems and forms. “From past 8 to 10 years, we have seen many people from all over the world are captivated by images of Buddha. In England, he adds, there is a widespread demand for Indian flavour in the art scene. Images of Shiva – Shakti and Ganesha receive high acclaim in the UK art scene.”

Marrying spirituality with art is not something we can do on surface level. One needs to tap into his inner feelings to seek its true meaning. The Buddha represents the end of all sorrow. The Bodhi Chakra used in numerous artworks is a spiritual symbol that stands for the last step of enlightenment. Sudhakar Chavan who has been working on the theme of social exploitation, believes that it is not the outer appearance of a painting but the inner voice of the artist that adds spirit to his art. He further explains, “You might see the image of Buddha and call it spiritual. But the image of a socially exploited animal and what the artist experiences from within as he paints on his canvas, straight from his heart, is when spirituality truly connects with art.” In other words, spirituality in art, is not about the things that you see outside, but more about feeling what you’re seeing within you.

"Santulan", Artist: Sunil Balkawade

Geometric murals, spiritual symbolism of Egyptian pyramids, conversion symbol, and Sanskrit mantras are widely used in figurative Tantric art. Sunil Balkawade, a research artist, recently made a Meditation Yantra in one of his paintings. Ever since his childhood, he had his one foot in art and the other in spirituality. His artwork is based on his inner feelings and his extensive research on spirituality, inner transformation and working of the universe. ‘Chitrukunishad', his new series, is a combination of impressionism and abstract, and is based purely on his understanding of the Upanishads. He explains, “That which we cannot see is the abstract form of art, that which we can see and experience within us is the impressionism form of art. Realistic art is based on what we see in the outer world. Surrealism is the extreme form of realistic art and I work with a combination of it all.” When asked about the meditation yantra he recently made, he said, “It is something that I created from the purity of my heart and very few people are aware of the power of such spiritual art. It does have an effect on the environment.” 

Bharti Mate, from Tao Arts calls her new project, ''The World of Rangavali”, a reservoir of positive energy, peace and happiness. The floor Rangavali which has a stint life, is conditioned and it is permanently blended to the canvas.

Cosmic Mandala Rangavali Dry Fresco, Artist: Bharti Mate, Tao Arts, Pune.

While the buyers of contemporary spiritual art are many in the international market, they are segmented into investment buyers, and those who buy it for their personal liking. Priya Pawar from Art2Day says,"We have a mixed audience, There are some art collectors who regularly visit art events and then there are doctors, surgeons, IT professionals, jewellers and corporates who have the eye for art and the moolah to buy it. We have exceptional artists, state-of-the-art galleries and a plethora of buyers from all walks of life." It is quite disappointing to admit that many of us still lack the right awareness of what spiritual art brings with it. To this, Prof.Chavan, having practiced art through meditation, says, “Visionary art workshops should be encouraged in which, the artists are allowed to meditate and indulge into the art that comes from the visions of their own minds, not from what they see in the world outside.” The awareness must first penetrate into the artist’s mind, before one can expect the art viewers to be aware of the meaning behind spiritual art.

Whether you contemplate art as a tool to awaken your peace of mind, or to a`la mode your personal space, it still manages to convince us of its spiritual existence, however, it now lies in the eye of the observer whether or not to see the depths in both the painting and the artists' mind.

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