NIRMAL RAJA

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From The Earth
4 x 4 inch panels
Egg tempera, graphite and scratching on panel
Mounted in boxes that are 4, 3 and 2 inches wide
$250 each, framed
 

(In March and April, the UWM Food Center & Pantry saw a sevenfold increase in demand.  Nirmal is donating her proceeds from this show to The UWM Food Center and Pantry).

NIRMAL RAJA: Just before Christmas last year, my family and I made a trip to Italy after many years. We made sure we spent a few days in Rome, as it is by far my favorite city in Europe. We were walking in the Trestevere neighborhood one day and came across an art supply store that was just so interesting – Ditta G. Poggi. I would later find out that this store was founded in 1825 and has supplied artists like Giorgio de Chirico, Mariao Schifano and others. The historic Roman art shop has sold art supplies in Rome for almost two centuries. I was drawn to the packages of colorful pigments hand tied and neatly lined up on shelves. There was something really direct and handmade about them. With a limited budget and luggage space, I obtained small containers of earth colored pigments to take a piece of this history home. I decided to use the pigments I obtained in Rome for my next series of daily practice- egg tempera on small 4 x 4 inch panels.

After many decades, I am finding my way back to egg tempera. There is something very sensual about the way this ancient material feels in my hands and the diffused way it reflects light.

I started my daily practice around three years ago to find my way back into my practice after a devastating election. I tend to do large projects that are heavily researched and planned. As a counterpoint, I needed something in my practice that is completely the opposite – something immediate and intuitive. Now I am on my fifth series of 101 small works. Why 101? The large number pushes variation within limitation and provides me with a formal and creative challenge. In India, there is a tradition to add one to any monetary gift. This is an act that symbolizes a wish for growth. Similarly, in my ongoing series of 101s, I wish for growth in the body’s ability to translate what the subconscious mind intuits.