Monday, April 1, 2013

Earth week: The Critical Balance

usually spend my post work leisure time in scribbling with watercolors, Oils and Charcoal. In past I had attempted a collage using scrap magazines with my eleven year old Daughter Mihika.

For earth week 2013, Along with my wife Ila and Daughter (Mihika), I created a portrait of mother Nature.


 




Making of "The critical Balance"


The Background paper is cheap handmade paper (recycled). I had to avoid natural gum (brown colour) as the glue often gets over the paper scraps making it dull. I chose White gum. (I am not sure if it is synthetic.)
Every Collage follows a lot of 'gummyness' and more scrap. And this one was no different. My family helped me to cut out color patterns and I worked on the jigsaw.


Everything is unplanned apart from the initial sketch. The work takes almost 10 hours of our weekend time. When we are off "work", we go for the weekend run at the racecourse.

We learned a lot through our mistakes but a collage is a journey..just like a marathon. The patterns/ colours and flow is adjusted in real time. My wife makes suggestions when I am myopic and I make alterations.

The Frame and background Use Twisted brush (Digital software) and I do plan to make a frame to suit. Would be better, if I make the same from scrap.

Thoughts on in my mind..

Mother nature is personified as a woman losing her hair.
Humans live in pomp, with complete disregard to the fellow living beings, forgetful, that the planet is a shared asset.
Cars and bikes scourge the streets, the young and not so young brandish false power and achievement
The Human continues to want more and more.

Our religions prophecy the final "Purge". It has happened in past and it may be cyclic but we have a very short life (and shorter memory).
Pardon my negative tone here (and the painting blues):
The nature tries to wipe the traces of abuse, when there is need for a balance.

In "Indology" the time of purge seems to be the "Dark ages", where no trace of history is found in Archaelogical excavations.
There was one link found though.

The ancient city of Dwarka was located submerged near the coast of Gujarat that backdates to the period of Mahabharat (Another indian epic).

It may match with "Noah's arc" timeframe..Indeed there was a massive flood that buried most of the land.
But if you think of it..Every agressive thing burns down fast as well in terms of age..shorter life.

Emperors who wanted to conquer the world and how far did they get.. Same with powerful nations in past..

The Situations under which Alexander the great, retreated from India.

My introspection takes me to India and I focus on the most powerful ancient Indian empires..Why are these regions so underdeveloped? Why did prosperity die?
Where did the world universities vanish?
Isn't this a similar case as a "Burnout"? Over ambition?

Life is all about balance, I guess. Few of us realise it too late..when older?

There is a saying:

During flood large Banyan trees get uprooted, but the flexible leaf of grass bends under the wrath and lives on.

It is the flexibility and modesty that pays in long run?
Its a fundamental part of Indian and Chinese philosophy and perhaps the reason that they survive as older nations?

"Creative destruction" as a friend says. Brahma the creator, Siva the destroyer. (Again..Balance)

I like to watch the Carl Sagan series "Cosmos". He explains what happens if the timeline of creation of earth to now if reduced to 1 hr fast playback.

Humans are indeed, capable of so much self destruction.

The question is, can we slow down the time bomb timely, and avert disaster?