Voice Within

Jitendra Singh Baoni

VOICE WITHIN

I have been inspired by Kabir’s dohas to produce this series of works titled Voice Within. 

 Kasturi kundal basey,mrig dhoondey van maahi.
Aise ghat mey peev hai,duniyaan jaaney naahin.

The musk deer, attracted by its own scent, searches for it in the woods, not knowing that the source of this fragrance is his own body.

In the same way, man goes about his daily life, not knowing that subconsciously he is seeking the Absolute Truth. This is present in his mind and body, yet he seeks it everywhere else but within.

My father was the court painter of the princely State of Rewa, where I hail from. Right from childhood I have been hearing myths and legends being handed down from generation to generation.   1986 proved a big jump in my personal life, as I left my hometown and travelled alone to another princely state to join the Baroda Fine Arts Faculty, to make a life and career for myself.

My artistic career began in 1992 with a very successful first solo show at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, giving me the confidence and boost to pursue art as my career.

My works reflect a social context along with emotional conflict. Wings portrayed in my works reflect a feeling of “beyond boundaries” or “crossing barriers”.

Memories of my past are reflected in my work.  I like building up my paintings layer by layer.   I love working with monochrome reds. I use thick brushes and spread color washes.  I relish the sensual experience of spreading colour on my canvas.

I start a new painting with a particular idea in mind, but once the process begins, the work starts to get a completely different life and then proceeds to provide its own history and future.   Each brush stroke builds on the one that preceded it.  What has come before is never completely annihilated but lives on like traces of the past.

My objective is not to talk about what the material world looks like, but rather to translate my life experience to a contemporary and abstract poetic imagery.

Jitendra Singh Baoni