ARTIST SUGO
Oh
Letters! You pose straight and stern,
Gracefully
twist and turn,
You
seem to sing and dance …
Be
contemplative and in trance
Amazing
is your persona that charms me
And
make me think of you at every blink…
Above
lines summarize the art of artist SUGO, as he is commonly
known in art circle. For him Calligraphy is a captivating Art for several reasons,
the common factor of calligraphy all over the world is that, of giving meaning,
feeling and expression to letters. Letters are wonder invention…they form
words, sentences and we think in words, we contemplate in silence…but again
silence have thoughts and thoughts are
in letters (words and sentences). SUGO’s latest exhibition named Knyatavya (easy to understand), portraying
Devanagri script and Hindu motifs or mantras.
These eye catching series’ clearly presents his inclination towards
spirituality and deliberation on munificence of Hinduism.
Most
calligraphers spread message of the particular culture, love and peace through
their calligraphy. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,
East Asia, Asia et al. has a common thread of message of humanity and moving
away from destruction and violence. SUGO has signified this by having a
dialogue through Indian Devanagri language
and motifs, thus trying to make Indian (Hindu) Calligraphy a global
phenomenon. He makes the world aware of
profound impact of motifs like ‘Aum’, ‘Swastik’ and ‘Rhim- rham on body and
soul. He not only deliberates on sound but visually creates a meditative aura
by using colors proposing mysticism and feeling of self awakening
Along with the spiritual communion in ‘Mantra’ series, in the series named ‘Akshara’ SUGO reveals the beauty of
Devanagri script. The letters seem personified, have body language and have
momentum and they twist and turn gracefully. If they are contemplated with
closed eyes it seems to have rhythm; music, poetic appeal. Some letters seem to
swiftly float, feel light as feathers. This might be the reflection of SUGO’s mind,
of breaking away from practical existence and moving away from stress and
burden into tranquility. He has symbolically linked letters with every minute element
that creator Lord Brahma (In Hinduism Lord Brahma is said to be the creator of
this universe) amalgamated together to create this universe. Nature or universe is made of animate and
inanimate objects; varying from micro to macro sizes and shapes and united they
create a beautiful universe. Likewise, the letters in his paintings are the
part of larger forms like, words and sentences. When letters are united in
smaller groups they make a word; and word gives meaning to thoughts and so in
the process language is born. is like presenting the theory of evolution
through letters.
I
was convinced about SUGO’s dedication to his art by his response to the
question of ‘readymade calligraphy’ being made easily available on computer.
When questioned about easy access to calligraphic fonts and saving time and
efforts of creating it manually for various occasions, he confidently replied
that it is a fact that technology has advanced and computer has made things
easy and enables access to most difficult art, like Calligraphy; but for him
calligraphy is not just writing artistically, but it is a matter of profound
dedication and purity of thoughts that go into creation of each and every
letter. He opines that Calligraphy will always have secured place in Art,
despite of technological progress.
I
think his subject is unique because ‘Hinduism’ is confined to India; it can be
called Indian religion. SUGO tries to introduce it to the world. It is not only
about spirituality but has the power to balance and compose our mind and body.
It reveals the mysteries of this Universe of how, why and who created it. It is
a great pleasure to watch these paintings live and get enlightened.
As
reviewed by Pankaja JK. Art writer.
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