Invoking Ram on canvas

For years, artist Gitanjali Kashyap would pore over her desk, burying herself in prayer-work silently while scripting a simple word: ‘Ram’, over and over again. This deeply meditative practice of ‘Ram Naam Lekhan’, and her travels to the geographies associated with Ram — Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, rivers Mandakini and Sarayu — inspired her artworks.

In ‘Scripted Silence’, on display at Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi, ‘Ram’, penned beautifully in Devanagari, is seen as the seed-letter for her artworks that are born out of paper, haldi, gangajal, charcoal and thread embroidery. From afar, Kashyap’s works take the shape of topographies, edicts, and pages that look straight out of a manuscript. On closer look, one sees the repetitive use of the word ‘Ram’ — and in some works, Sanskrit mantras.

The award-winning artist has studied textile and fashion, and has undergone training in art under the veteran artist Rameshwar Broota. Gitanjali Kashyap says, “In an age flooded with noise and speed, this body of work offers a quiet rebellion. Each piece speaks in whispers, yet carries the weight of centuries, scriptures, and soil. Here, language is not merely read but felt as texture, breath and terrain. Ancient text is used not to communicate outwardly, but to invoke inwardly. Sanskrit mantras, glyphic markings, and visual poetry become topographies of meditation, vessels of memory, and relics of intrigue.”

The show has been curated by art critic and Art Route gallery director Lubna Sen, who says, “Gitanjali’s work is a product of her inner world, born from silence and contemplation. As a curator, I am inspired by the unique language of her work and the universal vibration that it carries. As a gallerist, I am impressed by her aesthetics, which is a product of her genuine hunger for growth and experimentation.”

Kashyap creates varied intensities of the written script. Walking through her work, one spots figures from Ramayana, the landscapes and rivers associated with Ram.

On view at till April 3