Swirling, viscous surfaces, with dissolving and emerging forms, rhythmic patterns and monochromatic
explorations, tipped with bursts of colour. Alternatively, one can see lavish
swells, ridges and folds of paint, applied with generosity and deep enjoyment,
creating recognisable shapes and figures within abstract spaces. These are an
artist’s musings on the world around… embracing the natural phenomena as well
as the wider cosmos and otherworldly dimensions.
For Clarice Vaz, the act of painting appears as a state of
consciousness that allows the flow of various elements, both physical and
emotional, into visual tangible form. Each work that is created with this act
is filled with a sense of pulsating life, and articulated feeling. The intense
colours and textures, linear constructions and spatial formations establish
varied moods in a painting that invites the viewer into deeper engagement
within it.
The paintings in this compilation called ‘Sadhana’ are realised
in Clarice’s direct energetic way; they evolve from her gestures and from her
deep physical and psychological involvement in the painting process. She
intuitively chooses imagery and narrative from a personal, social and cultural
environment, moving fluidly through different styles – both figuration and
abstraction, always making her work accessible to a wide ranging viewership.
Having been a painter for a short period as she took up painting
late in her life, her tools are very important to her and range from a few
conventional choices, to varied spatulas, hairbrushes and even objects foreign
to a studio like syringes and other innovatively designed tools. This gives her
multiple methods and devices to manipulate and play with paint on the surface.
Adding and subtracting to the surface medium is part of her methodology.
Clarice’s visual language seems attuned to the abstract rather
than the representational, though the two are often integrated.
As an artist, Clarice connects various intellectual, spiritual
and metaphorical narratives that come from contemporary experience. She takes a
critical look at everyday life and is deeply aware and responsive to the human
condition, the superficiality conflicts, the pain and displacement that are
apparent.
In a complex milieu of socio-political, cultural and religious
barriers, she attempts to find peace – it is her ‘Sadhana’, an intense
meditation – looking into the continuum of time, space and human existence
within it.
Clarice’s artistic perceptions enfold a spiritual consciousness
that celebrates oneness among human beings, moving beyond physical realities to
those from another dimension, juxtaposing the microcosm with the macrocosm.
The
Exhibition will be inaugurated on December 12, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the Church of
Santa Monica, Old Goa. It will be open to the public from December 13 till
January 2, 2018
