HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Shubhika Lal’s art captures the broken and unbroken, the past with an eye toward the future.
In her current show at the Holland Area Arts Council, “Memory Dialogue, Collective, Cultural, and of the Self,” her work weaves these themes into garments imprinted with woodcut images calling forth the Ganges River, the history of India, and stories so personal to her life, her audience can’t help but see themselves and universal themes of humanity.
“Art is about communication,” she said, adding that her art is also an expression of her love.
Lal arrived in Holland at the behest of fellow artist, Alla Dickson. The two met at an artists workshop with a distinct environmental theme. Lal chose to focus on water.
Dickson and two other artists, Inger Margrethe Larsen and Amita Gupta, have concurrent and related shows at the arts council, under the umbrella title, “A Gathering,” that took a year’s worth of planning. (See the photo gallery.)
The Ganges River played an important role in her childhood. She was born near the river and grew up near it.
For more than 50 years, Lal has created using media ranging from bronze to twigs gathered from the grounds of a school where she taught.
She’s been teaching children art for 35 years. At 65, she finds art heals them, herself and other adults.
For Lal, art is a way to depict and process one of India’s most-defining moments. Vestiges of the 1947 civic and religious partitioning of the India, creating Pakistan (which has since divided again, creating Bangladesh) can be seen in the woodcut of red and black footprints, reminding people that the split caused a massive and painful migration. Some of her work is displayed at India’s National Museum of Modern Art.
Visitors to Lal’s Holland Area Arts Council show will find a multimedia experience. Delicate rice papers cut and sewn into wearable garments, stamped with black and red woodcuts depict parts of her personal history or stories drawn from the myths and lore of India, where she was born.
One shirt has a large image of a sewing machine, which for her is the memory of her father having to carry the machine — part of her mother’s dowry — across the river on his head. It was too valuable to leave behind. Another is a sculpted wooden bowl, holding both real and painted grains of rice.
“I want people to come to the show” she said. “I’m keen to communicate with you and I’m keen to get your feedback.”
To that end, she’s left postcards in the gallery and is eager to see visitors’ comments and reactions.
Lal returns to India on Jan. 24, 2020, and hopes people see the show, even if she’s not there to answer questions.
“We may not be here,” she said, gesturing to the gallery. “But we leave our souls behind.”
