Sajal Patra: Art as a spiritual journey by Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

Ved Prakash Bhardwaj Senior artist Sajal Patra's solo exhibition opens on 15th May 2023 at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. The exhibition depicts the journey of an artist from a physical state to a spiritual state. The arts are not only the expression of the self but also the search for the self. Our position in this universe is in the form of a particle that makes life possible by meeting other particles. This lowliness of life inspires an artist to attain the highest status. This highest state is the realization of the Self. This attainment of self is the act of reaching man to the creator who has created this world. It is a spiritual process in which every artist is knowingly or unknowingly involved. Senior artist Sajal Patra's art also establishes a dialogue with the supreme power while searching for the self. In his paintings, we can see that a human figure remains animate. That shape appears to move from one position to another. Stability is not the quality of his paintings.

Looking at the arts as a means to connect with the divine gives us a sense of our place and role in the world God has created. In this role, apart from performing worldly activities, we also aim to know and reach that supreme power. The arts help us in this work. Sajal Patra creates his paintings with this feeling. There is no one form of Atman i.e. Divine, the form is only of the human body, rising above which is spirituality. A yogi does penance for it, and a painter creates pictures for it. In both the physical condition i.e. the attainment of the self after being freed from the body is the ultimate, that is why we see that in Sajal Patra's paintings, the human form moves from realistic to abstraction as if the body is merging into the soul.

In spirituality, our emotions, desires, and inner activities are channeled in a direction in which we recognize our relationship with God as well as with ourselves and others. It is only after this recognition that man is able to realize liberation. In art, an artist dissolves himself in his art, so much so that he and his work become one. There is no difference between the two. We can know this by looking at Sajal Patra's personality and his art together.

Art fills its creator as well as the beholder with a sense of peace, but at the same time makes him restless about the question of his position and purpose in life. Engaging with art leads us to a state where we begin to understand our relationship with God. This is our situation when we look at the paintings of Sajal Patra.