Refresh your spirit in swirls of colour

magine walking into a room and feeling instantly refreshed, positive and energised. The room could be bare, with just a few paintings hung up, which when meditated upon have the ability to heal and soothe the mind and soul.

What at first glance may look like random and abstract swirls of colour without shape or form are actually works of art, energy art. These are paintings that depict energy using colour, form, and composition to create inventive and expressive works that resonate with impact and feeling.

“It is a new way of looking at contemporary art. I use art just as a medium to express healing energy, which radiates through canvas to the environment around it,” says artist Urška Majcen, who started out as a professional yoga teacher before finding her calling: healing using art.

Majcen, who recently had an exhibition of her paintings at the Amara art gallery, believes her art is a propagation of better living.
Brought up in Slovenia, Majcen is married to an Indian and firmly believes in the divinity aspect of Indian traditions.

Her paintings, under the label ‘Sun of Art: The art of living happy, healthy and wealthy’, struck a chord with even the most cynical visitors, most of whom went away feeling positive and inspired.

In watercolour and acrylic, Majcen’s paintings are round or square with a focus on uniform and bright colours that represent everything from eternal knowledge to the interiors of rain forests to the feminine chakra to conception.

“All my work has divine energy behind it, and I chose to represent positive messages. There is a huge need today to balance out all the negativity in society with positive vibrations and my art is a small step in that direction,” she says.

In the olden days, it was said that images protected us from our enemies. “In ancient Egypt, images were used as maps to navigate through the world known to man then. Today, images have the power to touch our hearts and emotions in deep ways, beyond words,” says Leila Tayebaly, a French artist and therapist currently conducting a colour therapy workshop in Bandra. For Tayebaly, art therapy is the ability of revealing one’s inner-self, expressing one’s buried talents in unknown territories, and applying them to daily life.

Her therapy sessions focus more on colour and the process by which they can bring harmony between thoughts and actions. “I use a German method, with a holistic view of human beings, but the therapy takes place in the process rather than viewing colours,” she says.

Expressionism, using colour, makes its presence felt in Minal Potnis’s paintings. This self-taught artist uses meditation and a good session of yoga face toning to give inspiration in her work.

“I feel vibrations in colour which make me joyful and I express it through my paintings,” she says. A riot of colour and dots lend her energy artworks a vibrant and harmonious touch, which she hopes will make people see the brighter side of life.

“Everyone tunes in differently to a painting. It depends on what emotional state you are in,” she says. Her acrylic on canvas and wood pieces are currently on display at the Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery. “My work is an inspirational expression of what I am and what I believe in,” she says.

Step inside Rajendra Mongia’s studio-turned-meditation centre, and one immediately feels positive vibrations. A graphic designer, Mongia’s turning point came three years back when he suddenly realised that what he was designing had a deeper meaning.

“A friend who chanced upon the painting said he felt vibrations emanating from it. Till today, I do not know the process that governs my works. I feel I am just a medium,” says Mongia, who had his first exhibition of digital prints on canvas at the Cymroza art gallery recently.

Viewers at the exhibition had experiences wherein they either spent hours staring at a canvas or broke down in tears. Mongia does not consider himself very religious, preferring to believe in spirituality and a person’s inherent happiness.

“We never stand still and reflect on our existence: who are we inherently and what makes us happy? Our lives are too ritualistic and rigid, which prevents us from truly experiencing inner peace and happiness,” he says.

While he has left his works unnamed, most people give their own names to his works, depending on their interpretation: be it a religious figure or a reflection of themselves. Shashi Vyas of Pancham Nishad Creatives Pvt Ltd owns a Mongia artwork titled Brahmastra, which, for him, is a symbol of power and strength.

“These paintings are an absolute form of energy, making you introspect and go deeper within yourself. The energy within us has the potential to work wonders, if only we can fully understand it,” he says. Vyas likens the paintings to the abstract energy inherent to music, without definite form or figure.

The healing achieved through energy paintings is spiritual, going beyond the emotional and physical. “It takes away your negative energy leaving you stronger to face whatever problems you may have,” says Mongia.