Creativity in times of isolation
Veteran painter-teacher Prem Singh had an inspiring interaction with artists and art lovers on the importance of ‘Channelling isolation into creativity’ in an online slideshow and talk organised by the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi.
Showing his artworks made amid the Covid-19 induced lockdown, the artist said, “Being an artist, it was not an easy situation for me to remain in self-isolation and maintain social distancing for such a long period. Creativity is instinctive and cannot be quarantined. In the beginning, I felt a bit sad, stifled, and caged. To live a life in a house without doors is an uphill task.”
“However,” he added, “as
The year 2020 has been anything but ordinary in more ways than one. And actor Nushrratt Bharuccha feels that it’s hard to imagine that so much has happened in just one year, which ‘has just cut us and made us bleed’ in so many different ways.
“I just feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning to another bad news...,” she says, adding that an influx of not-sopositive news on social media is also making things difficult. “It’s just become a state of mind and social media is a reflection of that. So they’re basically telling what all is happening out there but the fact that this is actually happening is toxic in itself. I don’t think if we don’t know about it, we’ll be able to out run it,” she shares. the days progressed, I found that physical distancing may isolate one but imagination is like a free spirit that can roam around across the globe.” The artist who spent a lifetime in the Chandigarh now lives in Delhi, but was visiting the city when lockdown began and was compelled to stay here in his home along with his wife.
Asserting that it’s best to endure and adapt to the situation, Bharuccha, 30, says, “The word that I’ve discovered in a new way is ‘cope’. We already had mental health issues and with this it kind of erupted even more. And it’s difficult to suddenly just become happy. I don’t think by being happy you’ll be okay with all that’s happening.”
Moreover, she feels, there’s an added stress and struggle on a person, when asked to stay happy, amid this crisis. “Tomorrow if he isn’t happy, he’d feel something is wrong with him,” she opines.
Bharuccha believes the right approach would be to accept it and be normal about it. “It’s ok if you aren’t happy, let’s just get through this situation right now, at the end we all will be happy,” she signs off.
He used this time to create a whole body of art. Prem Singh says, “It is true that an intrinsic motivation fuels creativity; and imagination works best when it is free. Day in and day out when I got to the act of drawing and collage making, freedom just happened for me. This gave a distinct identity to my artistic expressions of the moments I lived in a state of self-isolation with a silent pain in my heart.”
Astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma can be contacted at: Delhi: 011-47033152, 40532026 (Sat to Mon): Panchkula: 91-172-2562832, 2572874 (Tues to Thurs); Mumbai: 09716145644 (Last week of every month)
Sebastian Stan: The Romanian-american actor, known for TV shows Gossip Girl, Kings and Once Upon a Time, and films such as Captain America: The First Avenger, turns 38 today.