The Eyes Have It: Art And A Conversation

What do you look for when you view a work of art? Is it a feeling of upliftment and introspection, or something familiar – a glimmer of hope from everyday life? Sushma Mahajan’s paintings will bring you both. The ease of her brushstrokes on canvas will settle into the corners of your mind and bring calm to the cacophony of everyday life. A kachnar tree in your backyard, a pair of squirrels running in the grass, or a rusty, abandoned car parked around the corner, all find their way into her work. 

In her latest exhibition, Spectrum of Life, featuring 44 of her recent works, the artist picks up moments from the world of nature and city life to ‘connect with the beauty flowing around.’

She suggested I should do a series featuring eyes. It is quite a compliment coming from someone of her stature in the world of art.

Sushma Mahajan on art curator Alka Pande

A Window To The Soul

While Sushma recreates beautiful moments through her canvas, it is the eyes that add life to her portraits of humans and animals. When you tell her the eyes almost speak, like in the pair of squirrels that she visualises posing like models on a magazine cover, she shares, “That is my forte!” She is quick to add with an unassuming dose of laughter, “Since that is what everyone has been telling me!” It is not just the viewers and lovers of art who have asked her to repaint a few of her sold-out works for them, but also connoisseurs like art curator Alka Pande, who observed the same after her exhibition earlier this year in New Delhi. “She suggested I should do a series featuring eyes. It is quite a compliment coming from someone of her stature in the world of art,” Sushma shares.

Of European Vistas and Indian Architecture 

The first set of paintings displayed in the exhibition at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur explores the hues of fall. The autumnal aura comes alive through scenic frames that Sushma has come across during her travels. From the skyline of Prague to a Bavarian castle, and an Irish pub to a Dutch street, the canvases bring alive calming images that would remind the viewers of their vacations. The next series explores winter through snowy streets in Boston, wintry scenes from Swiss towns, and more. She uses flowers and animals to describe the pull of spring and also picks up subjects like cars and musical instruments to reinterpret everyday scenes. In one of the paintings, a guitar is placed against corroded nuts and bolts, and in another, a pair of snuggling horses share an anthropomorphically tender moment.  

The Perfect Caption Exists

The artwork is accompanied by poetic descriptions that enrich the viewer’s experience through the gallery. Interestingly, the words have been penned by her husband, bureaucrat Naveen Mahajan. “He asks me to share pictures while I am at work. Then, he absorbs each painting and, if needed, finds more about the subject. In the Kingfisher painting, for example, he has included the steadfastness of the bird in catching its prey for the ‘Never Give Up’ prose that is displayed alongside the painting. The thought-provoking lines, the regal ambience of the Maharani Mahal at Rambagh Palace, along with the creative display add to the experience of the exhibition. 

Finally, Sushma challenges the artist within through paintings exploring Indian architecture. Taking up the opulent havelis from Bikaner and the step-wells near Ahmedabad turned out to be a task for her. “Indian monuments are stunning but require an effort to recreate. When I started painting the Bikaner square, the windows in each haveli seemed never-ending!” she says. For the same reason, she calls the painting featuring the Chariot Temple from the ruins of Hampi her magnum opus. She uses a limited palette of colours to recreate the details in the work.

The Doctor, A Lockdown Artist

It comes as a surprise to many that Sushma, who has exhibited multiple times over the past three years, has only been painting for so long. She picked up the canvas during the lockdown of 2020 to embark on a journey of self-exploration through colours. A practising radiologist by profession, Sushma’s metamorphosis from being a medical professional to an artist is as seamless as the transition of colours from one season to another in her work. Having done the first 72 paintings to explore her artistic side, Sushma started sharing her work with friends and family members over WhatsApp. “Once I sent those across, I deleted the images from my phone gallery. When I exhibited these paintings, I was not expecting them to be all sold out! And now, I don’t have high-resolution photographs of any of those paintings,” she rues. She continues to paint, and explore newer subjects, not limiting herself to one genre.

Sushma has previously exhibited her work at three successful exhibitions in Jaipur and two in New Delhi.