I’ve always liked to be on the edge: Jaideep Mehrotra

Standing in front of one of Jaideep Mehrotra’s paintings from his recent works of art, Reflections in Mercury, we think of liquid metal dripping on the canvas. This is the culmination of a technique which the artist has been perfecting for a number of years to bring his first show of abstract paintings. The fact that he is doing a solo show in Mumbai after a gap of six years, is another reason to look forward to this exhibition. Here, Jaideep speaks about the thrill and excitement in presenting these pieces of work...  

You had said in an earlier interview that you love the challenge of an innovation...

We live in a world where everything changes constantly. Life is dynamic, never stagnant, so I don’t see why a creative person has to stagnate in his thinking. Specially, creative people should be able to think and adapt to things around them. I grew up in a time when there was no television. We have adapted to so much in such a short period of time. Alvin Toffler wrote in his book Future Shock that things have changed so fast, that you have adapted to them without even realising the impact they had on you. I feel we’re living in exciting times. Materials and processes which were not available to us earlier are available now. Today, people are creating works of art on hand-held devices and I think it’s fascinating. If you do not adapt and enjoy the evolution of what’s happening around you, you’re missing something. I’ve always liked to be on the edge.

It took six years for you to do a solo show in Mumbai. Why’s that?

Normally, I have a show once in four years because it takes a long time to put together a body of work. Two years ago, I was invited to participate in an international art fair at Bahrain, that became like a mini show for me. I did some semi-abstracts for that show. That’s when I started evolving this technique on which I’m working now. I thought this technique with which I’m currently working will work really well with abstracts. That’s how it all came together. I’m excited as well as a little apprehensive as this is the first time I’m doing a whole show of abstracts.

Is there an underlying theme to the paintings?

Here, because they are abstracts, I’ve used the technique as the theme, as well as the premise behind it. That a highly reflective surface can also do another thing — it reflects back at you. When you look at a work that constantly changes, it makes it exciting. In that sense, it’s a dynamic work. It changes, it adapts itself to the environment, almost amphibious in that sense. It has a life of its own. I like the idea of a highly reflective surface on a delicate surface like canvas.  

You’ve made short films. Would you be interested in making a full-length feature?  

I would love to. Everybody has an ambition of taking all of their art into this multiple space, where you can use so many cards to play with. Every scene can be a beautiful scene. I’ve done really small pieces which are more silent and more visual, but I have the advantage of using music with it. If I were to direct a film, it would have to be something I could feel towards and take advantage of, in terms of locales and create a story that uses all of the senses.