Saturday 13 August 2011

HEAD TALES


Clown Head, pen and ink on paper


We are all Clowns at the End of the Day

So in this crazy world that rings with new daring everyday, there is something to wish for and something to know. In the midst of this chaos, there is that silence and searching for it we all are. Like props and characters in a circus our comedy and tragedy is determined by the role we play in the circus, and while we all a clown might want to be, it isn’t always so.
Soumen’s series of Clown Heads from the Circus of the Absurd is a recollection of the kind of tragedy we all wallow in. There is no dearth of joy, happiness, elation and moments of deep enlightenment, yet we trace our lives on the sorrow we have faced and what sorrow, but what we choose and define it to be.
Like the deafening sound of a steam engine and the honking of many a cars, these images are a deep deep reminder that we live an aimless life. In a fog of unhappiness we find every moment to make our lives sorrowful and even as the clown in a circus is to make merry and laughter, he has painted tears on his cheeks.
What we are within reflects on these images, sorrow, chaos, boundaries, norms and reasons to pin ourselves to unhappiness and really what is this, is this why we are on this planet so green, alive and filled with stunning beauty.
There must be more and there is ample time for amendment, so here are these clown heads reeling with memories of this absurd world, and although deep within there is this pain, we are all clowns at the end of the day.
In distinct tone one must note the detailing with which the artworks reflect the notions of life, which are much like a canvas and we can draw and erase what we like.
In the midst of this circus and the all the absurd we are still all clowns at the end of the day!


* By Shailin Smith, Art Curator and Writer based in New Delhi & Pune.


Clown Head, pen and ink on paper