Artist explores nature, childhood memories via pen and ink

Stains of colours on paper via brush strokes, pens and pastels that draw on artist Marie Dias Arora's memories of childhood and nature are on display at an solo art exhibition here.
'Inner Terrains' generally a stretch of land, is a body of works created with ink on paper by Marie over the last four year and are inspired by organic and evocative patterns in nature - the entangled roots and branches, the sea, the sand and the cliffs.
"This body of work I started three-and-a-half-years ago after a gap in my journey as an artist. During the break I went to Srinagar and suddenly I was inspired by nature there to start drawing again.

"Slowly I evolved my own language of expression where I am inspired by all the elements of nature but then I used them and transformed them to alot of my inner emotions and expressions," says Maire who has been an artist for the past four decades.
Reflecting an artist's journey during the ups and downs of her life, the visual language incorporated in the paintings expresses a balance between freedom and control.
The paintings titled 'Memory 1957' and 'Memory 1960' in the exhibition which is being held at Alliance Francaise de Delhi are a severance of artist's parents from their child and talks about tragedy she herself faced as a child.

"I was just eleven years old when I faced a tragedy. 'Emotions' shows loss of a child to my parents and that is how I intended to do more with my memories in these paintings which have been painful," says Marie.

The city-based artist pursued painting at the JJ School of Art, followed by Delhi College of Art, where she was introduced to printmaking by Somnath Hore.
Marie went to Paris on a scholarship from the French government where she trained under master printmakers William Hayter and Krishna Reddy at Atelier Seventeen. Upon her return she took to teaching art at Modern School here.

Marie who has been awarded the AIFACS National Painting Award in 1978 has created textural images with free and fluid brush strokes on paper which are a reflection of 'etching' which she learned during her training in Paris.
With artworks titled 'Embryo' and 'Verdant' she depicts emotional journey to experiences like birth and death.
"Etching has lot of influence and a textural quality in all these works. Since I was exposed to more of textural art in France it left a huge impact on me. This exhibition is just an insight into life which has been inspired by nature," says the artist.

The exhibition that opened here on December 4 continues till December 9, at Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi.