The art of multiples

Manisha Parekh works within a tactile space

Take an artist, put her in a studio, and what you should get is a body of work. Right? Manisha Parekh, fresh out of a solo show at Nature Morte gallery in New Delhi and a group show curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, also in Delhi, is already jittery about her next show, in Mumbai's Sakshi gallery in spring 2006. "I'll have to lock myself into my studio for a few months," she says, "I don't know how I'll complete so many works for the show."

That's because Manisha works slowly. Too slowly, according to some. Meticulously, according to others. "She has a tendency to pick up a technique of working on material, and stay with it a long time," says Kavita Singh, art critic and long-time friend.

"I like exploration within materials," agrees Manisha, "which could be paper" "" rice paper and paper cutouts currently "" "a major concern is drawing" (using cutters and scissors instead of pen or pencil), "and a process of layering" (both with paper and paint). It's a slow process in the studio, this aspect of recognising and being led by materials which have their own energy."

How does she react to being called slow? "I do work consistently," she says, "and can't be producing any more than I do currently." "She edits down her own work," Kavita Singh explains, "and shows only what is successful."

If Manisha is different from the other two Parikhs "" Manu and Madhvi "" it stems, she says, from the years away from home, seven of them spent in Baroda and another two in London.

"They were important years (1984-93) in forming my own language and space. From that distance, though, one can also recognise the influence, however indirect, coming from one parent or another." She will repeat a shape or a form or a material till she's completely spent.

"My studio at Garhi is too small, so when I work in multiples, I get to see the finished aspect of the work only when it's displayed in a gallery. I like that idea of a work being flexible, reacting to the architecture of a place. In fact, I'm quite excited by the element of display because it's fun, and it's important."

For now, she's experimenting with materials such as cords or pipes against flat, white backgrounds. "To make something out of nothing is an area of creativity I enjoy "" it's almost meditative," Manisha says.

"I like her recent work," agrees Kavita , "though not as much as some of her previous work. But artists undergo their own processes of evolution and can have good patches and bad patches. Manisha's ability to evolve with her materials is her strength. And she never repeats herself, unlike Husain with his horses, or Swaminathan with his bird. I take Manisha very seriously."

"I don't make big statements," admits Manisha. "Just small thoughts are important to me." And to her collectors too.