Solo exhibition by artist depicts drawings with wood as tool

Making a transition between art genres and the medium is an organic process for an artist, most often resulting in experimentative art. Young artist Inderpreet Kaur, 26, turned that transition into a solo exhibition that reflected her journey to know herself as an artist and an individual. Titled ‘Into the Woods’, the solo exhibition opened at the art gallery on Wednesday with over 30 drawings displaying self-portraits by Inderpreet Kaur.

“These drawings were an attempt to interpret my work with wood sculptures onto canvas. These drawings were inspired from wood, a medium that I primarily work with and they are self-portraits that depict myself in various emotions and expressions, reflecting on the inner transition I went through while creating them,” shared Inderpreet. A Master of Fine Arts student at Central University, Himachal Pradesh, Inderpreet Kaur has been pursuing art with sculpture as a major and wood as her medium. Her father Narinder Singh is a celebrated sculptor and her first mentor, whose work with wood has found acclaim nationally.

‘Into the Woods’ has 20 drawings that Inderpreet Kaur calls as her ‘experimentation’, with wood as a drawing tool. “I created these drawings by using charcoal powder and brush, spatula as tools. It was my first attempt to use wood as a drawing tool.” She explained that these self-portraits were quite cathartic to create.

“In many of these drawings, you can see me emerging out of the wood. it shows me in different moods, emotions and some even reflective of my inner most expressions. I tried to use them as a mirror to understand my own journey as an artist.” While some of these drawings took five minutes to make, others were more immersive, she shared.

Encouraging and celebrating her first solo exhibition, her father and senior artist Narinder Singh said that he hopes Inderpreet Kaur is able to become a part of the next generation of emerging artists from the region.

Present at the opening were RSM Chhina, president, Indian Academy oF Fine Arts, Dr PS Grover, general secretary, IAFA, and senior artists Arvinder Chamak, who called Inderpreet’s works as reminiscent of the earlier works of Amrita Shergill, when she started her journey as an artist.