Myths, legends, and Murals

The layered narratives in Ram Dongre’s visual vocabulary

By Juhi Mathur

The history of frescoes and murals is an important aspect of visual arts, specifically when we try to decipher the inception of fine arts, it is incomplete without the mention of ancient murals that give us a glimpse of ancient human life. The rituals and practices were recorded through these visual remnants as seen in the murals at Bhimbetka, Ajanta, Altamira and Lascaux caves. Hailing from Kala Pipal, a town situated between Ujjain and Bhopal, Ram Dongre’s works deciphered this complex landscape of Indian art history through his artistic endeavours. In addition, his creative process talks about the historical erasure of art while exploring the technical limitations and experimentations that exist in his oeuvre.

Artisanal practices are an extension of cultural heritage and denote the developments that occur in civilisation, as seen through the unearthing of terracotta figurines from Indus Valley civilisation or the discovery of the vernacular visual history of different tribes and communities. Indian craft and painting have a rich history that has enamoured scholars for centuries. Dr Anand Coomaraswamy was a renowned historian, philosopher and metaphysicist whose writings have helped in placing various indigenous branches of Southeast Asian art and craft in a larger art historical canon. When the Edwardian West viewed Asian art from an orientalist perspective, Coomaraswamy’s work and curatorial research produced a detailed framework to decipher traditional iconographies in Asian art and culture. Coomaraswamy has always focused on the universality of art and its intrinsic connection to the human condition; believing that no form of art can exist in a vacuum without a correlation to the exterior world. It is always an extension of the larger cultural phenomena, representing the individual mind in the social context. In a similar creative vein, Ram Dongre’s paintings represent the rich social and cultural history of India, embedding his works with a sense of timelessness.

He takes inspiration from his daily experiences around him, growing up he saw his father paint images of gods and goddesses, hence learning the nuances of commercial art, Ram became well-versed in the art of painting naturalistic images of various icons from the Hindu pantheon. It was only after a more formal training in fine arts, that he began exploring the meanings of symbols and their malleable nature in semi-representative compositions. Predominantly employing oil colours, which are steeped in rich material history, to paint visages of mythological characters from Puranic tales. These pictorial narratives are infused with various forms of flora and fauna inspired by Indian wildlife, fables and miniature painting tradition, thus creating a unique style that mixes the imaginative with the real, in art historical terms it is defined as magical realism. Growing up in Chattisgarh, Ram has included pieces which are reminiscent of Dokra figurines, especially witnessed in sinewy limbs with exaggerated shapes and colours. Another important feature which underpins the compositions is the ability to combine technical aspects of colour and canvas with expressionist storytelling – specifically viewing a canvas as a three-dimensional space which is not restricted by the four sides, encouraging him to experiment with multiple layers of oil producing a composition that is layered figuratively and materially

The layers are festooned with cracks and crevices revealing more ornate details, and telling hidden stories of yore. To decipher Ram’s vision, one has to repeatedly observe the painting through various perspectives – turning a page of the book at a different time of the day and finding a new meaning each time. Akin to the textual play by the theory of Pleasure of the text by French philosopher Roland Barthes, Ram’s paintings present a rich vocabulary that has multiple connotations and brings out a plurality of meanings. As Barthes explains – every word in a sentence is filled with meanings and historical context therefore carrying multiple meanings at once, which are revealed when it is read repeatedly; in Ram’s paintings, the mythological imagery situated in contemporary settings, is broken down into multiple fragments, each element having multiple symbolisms attached to it. This led to the synthesis of the Sesh Avshesh series which translates to residues or remains in Hindi, it is a commentary on the lost histories of frescoes and murals, specifically their deteriorating state.

Ram has taken inspiration from tribal art and cultures of different Indian states, Ram has predominantly employed a vibrant colour palette which is applied in thick layers of oils – revealing and hiding certain areas. The canvas imitates an old wall of a cave that embodies the evolution of artistic expression in communal settings, whilst commenting on the lost art of folk and tribal traditions, as the artisans are moving towards more commercially viable options. Ram’s visual vocabulary becomes an inquiry into the state of traditional arts and crafts as well as the intricate technicalities of oil paints.

The process of painting also becomes a terrain of self-discovery for Ram as he deciphers the mythology and cultural heritage of India through a personal lens, delineating the concept of Indian spirituality. Inspired by the works of S.H Raza and V.S Gaitonde, Ram looks at several layers of abstraction that exist in the works of both the Progressive artists – the sublime works of Gaitonde which lend a glimpse into the superfluous world of colours and Raza’s Bindu series which began his journey into the depths of Indian philosophy and Neo-Tantrism. Similarly, Ram’s paintings employ narratives with characters infused with rhythmic elements and the sensorial aspect of imbibing different themes from Hindu mythology and Indian miniatures taking popular culture icons and situating them in contemporary terms. Deciphering the narratives in his creation, Ram balances hues and shades in these humongous artworks through the process of visualising the whole space in an achromatic scheme, where the darker tones are akin to dark figments floating in grey and white space. This process of simplifying is meticulously balanced with complex imagery and iconography.

Expanding his two-dimensional world of visual iconographies, Ram forayed into the art of sculptural installations, manifesting his figural compositions in the medium of terracotta. Carrying a rich material history, terracotta has been used by artisans since the dawn of civilisation, as seen from the archaeological findings of the Indus Valley, Greece and Mesopotamia. In Madhya Pradesh, terracotta is used extensively by various tribes like Bhils, Bhilalas, Barelas, Patalias, Nayaks and Mankas to make terracotta votive figurines that are used for ritualistic and spiritual purposes, inspired by its cultural significance, Ram included the usage of terracotta in his visual practice. Creating highly detailed and ornamental sculptures which embody the seamless layering of his canvas paintings, while touching upon the ephemeral nature of clay. His art and experimentation with materiality bring forth his desire to study the transient nature of aesthetics that imitates life and human consciousness which is in a state of constant flux.

In its entirety, Ram Dongre’s visual expression showcases a quest to reconcile the traditional with the contemporary, paying homage to the vernacular forms of Indian art and traditions which have traversed generations. Each artwork reverberates with imagery that takes us back to the highly stylised miniature and mural painting traditions while touching upon their complex history. It is a visually stimulating world that positions multiple perspectives on figurative painting, abstraction, and transitory aspects of art, warranting a deeper exploration of his craft that simultaneously creates a novel vocabulary of visual culture and investigates its historical origins; practising a versatile take on the subject of traditional painting and craft practices in India throughout various communities