Painting with eyes closed- Anas Sultan’s exhibition ‘Transparency’

The first floor of Lalit Kala academy has turned into a reverie of thoughts. Here, on display is a representation of the mind’s deepest thoughts, unfulfilled desires, love and destruction. Along with this are representations of women’s beauty and other mythological figures. Anas Sultan, 27, is presenting his first solo exhibition on the theme ‘Transparency’.

Art for Anas Sultan (27) is a continuous process of creating a new language of expression and then breaking it down to create something new. In his own words, “I create and then break it down in order to create something new once again.” says he. As for subjects for his paintings, he says, “Every thought is rich and important enough to be translated into a canvas. That is what I do.”

In the exhibition (on till Aug 30), Anas has displayed an impressive array of works, done in acrylic, charcoal and ink. There is an amalgamation of forms (predominantly human), a play of light and intrinsic flow in his works. Transparency becomes a language to represent the picture of the mind. Here, he uses a creative style of superimposing various thoughts and emotions.

Over the years his colours have become more muted and his forms have assumed a degree of abstraction. There is a clear surrealist element also seen in his paintings. For him, the subject became less important than the portrayal. Says he, “I had to train myself a lot to get this flow in my paintings. My teacher suggested that I draw and paint old sculptures from Indian temples and National Museum to get this flow in my works. With that, I started experimenting with different hues of colours too.”

A walk through the gallery is a journey from a saga of dream and desire, to the destruction felt by him during the pandemic, to the hope and beauty of a woman. All are represented without an actual subject using the transparency technique. Most of his paintings make use of a circle shape which is one of his favourites. “There are endless possibilities a circle has. It can take any form.”

Among his works, a three-part painting titled ‘The Wave of Heart’ captures the essence of the series for him. In the final segment of the ‘Dream and Desire’ saga, the piece is a crux of multiple human feelings including sexual, attraction, and desire for fantasy. The use of vibrant colours shows the merging of various thoughts creating an infinite chain.

“I slowly realized that what can be seen with closed eyes is greater than what is seen with open eyes." As thoughts that come to you are endless and relentless, Anas has an endless store of subjects to be explored.