Arpita Singh, The Winter Walk, 2014
Arpita Singh paints in oil, but her work does not always strike the eye as traditional for the medium. She flattens colour into strips that resemble shredded pieces of paper, mimicking collage. Sometimes she combines oil with poster paint and uses only the thinnest brushes, creating effects that look like printed drawings or delicate kantha embroideries. Even her watercolours defy convention; they are vivid, dense, and opaque. She also works with ink, pastel, and pen, and makes etchings. Her full-scale and miniature pieces teem with references to Bengali folk painting (Singh is Indian, born in 1937), traditional textile techniques, and Hindu mythologies.
11 April 2025
