Prayag Jha - Her Work

Her Work

Prayag Jha is a well-known graphic (etchings) artist and painter from India. As a person she is very unassuming, self-effacing, and a recluse with a number of distinctions garnered in her career. She comes from a small town near Agra, India and had her early education from Delhi. She graduated from New Delhi College of Art in 1971. Prayag got her wings when she went to the legendary University of Fine Arts in Baroda, Gujarat to study graphics.

Prayag’s career got a further impetus when she married sculpture JK Chillar in 1971. While she has won many awards, one of her biggest achievements was getting honored at the 7th Triennale with an international award for her etching titled ‘Bachelors House’. Several other awards preceded this honor from State Level Awards to the National Award honored to her by the President of India, all carving a niche in her field.

Truly the triumph scored by this even-tempered lady of a frail frame is phenomenal. Her shows are frequently held at the famous Art Heritage Gallery, National Gallery of Modern Art and many more.

What is it that makes Prayag Jha a front rank Graphic artist; firstly it is her immense technical expertise. She has mastered pen drawings and etchings to a remarkable degree; her draughtsmanship is next to perfect. Secondly her imagery is open to the idea of her work being called Modernism from post independence. In a very indirect manner some of her images may be viewed as rooted in surrealistic concepts. But what carried one way is the depth of emotion, Prayag is a thinking artist. It does not need any talent to say that she is an introvert but yet there is nothing-self conscious in her imagery or her technique, it is essentially simple and very evocative.

Let us view through a few series turned out by this gifted artist. Among the best known is the prolific series that featured every societies ignored and unwanted scavengers ‘Crows’. Her work titled ‘ The Bachelors House’ presents the lifestyle of a bachelor as one of the central images in this series, reflecting essentially a house that is neglected, one that has not been touched by a woman’s hand. This series showcases the Charpoys (Jute beds), which lie on their sides, with deserted bottles and glasses thus accentuating the forlornness in the scene. There are also the clotheslines, which create the same effect. Prayag has tried to reflect the desolation and lonelineness in this series.

The crows meanwhile behave as if they owned these interiors. It is a very lucid concept on the artist’s parts, something that connects all these images with surrealism. Among one of her series is an etching titled ‘House without the Woman’, here too it is the crows that rule. ‘ In Front of the House’ is yet another graphic work in this series. All these works depict and emulate the feelings and the emotions of man and woman without the presence of any human being.

One of Prayag’s most brilliant etchings in this series is the ‘ Flight’ where the crows are perched on curved bamboo, the composition of this piece of art is brilliant in itself going far beyond what is wants to depict. Though one of the most impactful works in her series is the one called ‘Scattered Life’. This was created before ‘The Bachelors House’ and other contemporary works. In this National Award winning ‘Scattered Life’ series, Prayag shows broken planks of woods with crows perched on them. This particular etching, which won the national award, is the most memorable. There is another in this series, which was sent to the Festival of India in the US in 1985. Her other series includes the work titled ‘In The Evening’. Here we have crows’ perches on a tree trunk with its bare branches. The leafless tree and the silhouettes of the image cannot but connote the concept of peaceful environment and rest. This is a very poetic work indeed. Her other work titled ‘Alone’ shows a single crow resting on stones in the wilderness. Such etchings establish Prayag Jha as a front rank artist, and a gifted visualizer.

Prayag’s delineation of crows as they appropriate settling rights in human habits reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘ Fills The Birds’ based on a story by Dalpine Du Maurier. Prayag’s crows do not exactly carry a threat but neither are they lovable little birds. Crows are always supposed to be most unwanted and neglected of all birds; here they carry with them the point of loneliness and devastation.

The visual metaphor consistently pursued by Prayag becomes very potent as we go from etching to etching. The art of etchings claims a long pictorial tradition. The meticulous draughtsmanship of work is not conventionally realistic. It is evocation of mood, is expressionistic and its treatment of life and images is surrealistic. She conjures up these strangely hypnotic images and makes it possible for us to undertake a journey in her mind, her fertile but mysterious subconscious.

If one has strong determination to achieve what his or her heart sets out for then there is no stopping. Mumbai based Prayag Jha is one such artist who has lived up to it and came out with flying colors despite all barriers.

Even amidst conservative thinking, Prayag stood firm on her creative instincts, facing opposition from quite a few fronts, she still emerged as one of the finest artist in the society. It was not an easy decision to have a career in India in graphic arts and painting and being a woman makes it even tougher. Prayag had to pour out her dedication to stand out and continue her work while all her classmates were forced to lead a life of homemakers in India.

Her sheer devotion and determination is also evident from her selection of art forms. Etching is the unique form in which she has specialized; it is in the process of using a sharp needle pen to draw onto a zinc plate, which are later etched with acid to create the depth, form and dimension. And then using roller printers to create the impression of the etched forms on paper. The work on them reflects its uniqueness (Chemicals, Paraffin Oil and Kerosene) and below the Surface printing with the use of a special pressure comes in as the special feature of this art form. This uniqueness of the art form attracted her to it.

Though it requires special facilities still the output gives one the desired satisfaction. It requires patience and concentration to carve out on the metal plates, adds the artist who is currently working on making etchings on the ancient Indian epic called Meghdoot ‘ The messenger clouds”.

Not just in the selection of art form, even her themes reflect the innovativeness of her thoughts. She prefers to bring out “reality” with her unique style. Her first etchings on the rejected objects of society like using straw, fallen feathers of birds etc. rightly explain her way of thinking.

The ability to find uniqueness in reality has made her the recipient of various awards and her work timeless and ever engaging.