Technique and Marbleizing

Fig. 1
Each of the massive canvas were hung horizontally from the ceiling with the help of pulleys, just like a swing.

One of the most intriguing features of his art was the technique in which they were created. He hung the humongous blank canvases horizontally from the ceiling with the help of pulleys, just like a swing (Fig.1) and then began working on his brilliant pieces. With sheer skill, he would cover the negative spaces with contact paper & left the area meant to receive the paint exposed (Fig.2 & 3). He would then pour white paint around the required portion (Fig 4.). In that fluid white paint, he would add few drops of the desired color. Unlike most artists, he would then tilt the massive canvas one way and the other which would let the force of gravity define the flow of the paint forming intriguing swirls (Fig.5), allowing the hues to naturally adopt the pattern. It was because of this precision that his collection falls under the ‘One of a kind’ category and can never be replicated. As a final touch, he would rub the paintings with zero number sandpaper & water, leaving behind a soothing grainy and polished marble effect. He was so confident about his work that he urged the viewers to touch the paintings and revel in their feel. He zeroed in on long-lasting exterior paints so the paintings would last for years to come and the marbleized effect would never deteriorate.

Fig. 2
The space where color would be poured would be thoughtfully and intentionally sketched.

Fig. 3
The negative spaces were covered with contact paper which left the desired area exposed and open for the paint.

Fig. 4
Exterior long-lasting white paint would be poured onto the desired area.

Fig. 5
As the paint was poured along with desired colors, the entire canvas was tilted in the desired direction and with the help of gravity, the paint would flow within the designated area which allowed the hues of the paint to naturally adopt the patterns.

Bharat says, “I call these paintings “Totalistic”, in that they have evolved from all “Isms” of human endeavor. The Classic Balance-The Renaissance Inventive and the Abstract abundance, all find a counterpoint in these paintings. The canvases have been utterly smoothened due to the marbling technique. The marble veins in the paintings represent abstract, the figures and the outline, in which they are confined, represent the expressionistic. The symmetry and the balance are classic. Together they represent the high Renaissance Inventive. AIM: Everything spontaneous but nothing unaware. The technique of these paintings, where the Realistic, the Expressionist, and the Abstract find a counterpoint to highly spontaneous yet enormously time-consuming, with a meaningful interplay of textures ranging from the utterly smooth to the coarse and selective three Dimensionality which makes the chosen Images leap out of the canvases. The comprehensive Technique is commensurate to the rendering of the nuances which facilitate me in communicating the infinitely complex intent of Leonardo Da Vinci. “

Bharat Explains, Why the Marble Technique?
The Technique of marbling for these paintings was first presented to me through a vision, which I had during the execution of the paintings Deciphered to mean the following:

  • It is the technique that helps in correlating, understanding, and establishing a tangibility of the Spiritual with/ through the tangibility of the Empirical.
  • It helps correlate and express Empirical Metamorphosis in relation to spiritual Metamorphosis.
  • It helps in establishing the Relative Metamorphosis.
  • It is a technique that offers the viewer a comprehensive peek into the Fossilized Emotions, their consequential expression, and their eventual annihilation through experiences, of that which had occurred at that time and that moment within this extraordinary continuity called the Soul.
  • It is a technique that offers a chronological continuity for/of/to the artistic expression through the progression of its distinctive marble views from painting to painting, even while completing each painting within itself.
  • It is a technique that enunciates a complete system of Artistic expression where spontaneity and organizational control at once emerge triumphantly.
  • It thus becomes a technique that at once captures the essence of the abundance of Abstract Expressionism by sheer/spontaneous act of dropping color on a horizontal canvas to catch the Transient Emotional Nuances, and Yes/yet It also captures the Immutable, Eternal Spiritual Tenets and the pure experiences through an innate sense of the classic Equilibrium, the technical control, the patience and the perseverance required to execute it.
  • It is a technique through which its Italian Origin can be traced at a glance.
  • It is a technique where the distinction between the sculptor and the painter evaporates.
  • It is a technique that complements and /or contrasts the Empirical solidity of the Marble within the Factual Enunciation of the Spiritual matter, The Soul.

In short, the comprehensive technique offers unparalleled freedom of Artistic Expression, without having to take recourse on any obscure, unintelligible modes of expression and a system of experiencing “what was, what is, what will be” and conveying it to the observer of these works, “as it was, as it is, as it will be “.
It is also my experience that an ever-evolving Leonardo, though generally satisfied with his extraordinary technique of Sfumato, always strove for a technique that would encompass his vast intellect, the strange passion, and his infinite yearning for perfection. This aim was to bridge the gap between the desire for perfection and the Actualization of this desire. In my perception, he was limited by the lack of Quantum of the Relative knowledge, some of the Spiritual Tenets and Doctrines and their application, as well as their mechanical refinements of the modern era, for the actualization of such a Desire.

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