Sunday, September 6, 2009

D. Ebenezer Sunder Singh’s artistic evolution


Starting his journey from a modest temple town in the south India, D. Ebenezer Sunder Singh arrived in Chennai for studying fine art. He enhanced his knowledge base at College of Arts and Crafts. His early expressive drawings, mostly pen & Ink or charcoal on paper, were largely inspired by modern masters, in particular, the German expressionists.

He did most of his paintings in Gouache or Oil. Large sheet of papers stuck together for a bigger one served as an outlet to express his emotions and cathartic fervor. He studied in depth Paul Cézanne’s paintings and his principles of Art to understand the traditional Indian painting methods.

The artist was granted a Government of India scholarship. At the Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), he worked on his ‘flat figurations’, a series of oil paintings - figures rendered in an abstract mode - with a linear figure drawing outlining the flat abstract energy. In 1996, he had his first solo, entitled ’The Hollow Men, The Stuffed Men’ at the ‘Easel Art Gallery, Chennai.

In 1999, D. Ebenezer Sunder Singh received the Charles Wallace Scholarship’. He had two shows in the UK. With a new awareness he returned to the Cholamandal studio. Gradually, he started to include text in his paintings. He also traveled to the US on the prestigious Fulbright scholarship.

Outlining his broad artistic philosophy, he has stated: “I am a Christian, but I believe in universality in the philosophies of all religions. The Religious symbols with psychological motifs that marked my oeuvre were based on the same thought.” His recent paintings revolve around Humanistic principles. With the Human figure as the central element of his pictures, they shift time and space to locate the psychological characteristics and the principles of life.

Summing up the spirit of his art, D. Ebenezer Sunder Singh states, “I collect my memories; put them on my canvas; turn them into metal, all the while using tones trembling with feeling.”

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