Imagine piles of waste reliving a breathtakingly beautiful second life! The idea could have been dismissed as far fetched, if not for Simran K.S. Lamba’s artistic brilliance that has breathed new life into them.
The artist has conjoined discarded reality with artistic imagination and his effort has culminated into a unique collection that goes by the name Genesis. The 27-year-old Delhi-based artist’s collection was recently exhibited at the ITC, The Sonar Bangla, Kolkata and was greatly lauded by the city’s culturati. “It took me almost four years to complete the 35 pieces” he says.
Simran’s creative pursuit takes him to junkyards where industrial wastes like coal tar, aluminium, metals, nuts, bolts, wires, mesh, gauge, broken glasses, radiator part of batteries are the tools that he uses to channelise his skills. “Beauty exists everywhere, and it comes out best in its simplified form. I prefer not to be a conformist, one who is not keen to follow the set rules,” he says. The subjects too are as diverse as his technique and materials. From animals and insects to the more real life portrayals of funerals, Simran has experimented with every possible style to create his individual vocabulary.
Nothing stops at a single stage. Each stage is constantly layered and eventually metamorphosed, as the tar blends in with wax, lead, aluminum, gauge, mesh, wax, bolts and nails, creating a mélange of abstraction. Noticeably, the tar makes its presence felt in almost all his works. He says, “Hot tar, although a difficult medium to work with, stands out for its versatile and flexible nature and is my most preferred medium.”
The first acknowledgement of Simran’s creative leanings came when he was a child, when a greeting made by him in a school project was selected by the UNICEF. The artist admits that being fashion designer Mona Lamba’s son meant he grew up in a creative environment. “Perhaps I was genetically creative and chose to carve out my own path. My mother taught me to question myself and my surroundings. That introspectional instinct forms the underlying essence of my work,” he says.
Simran displays the spontaneous streaks that’s typical of a creative person. “I was busy painting on my terrace in Delhi, when a butterfly came and rested on my canvas for a fleeting moment. It inspired me to create the butterfly work,” he says, pointing to one of his art pieces. Each canvas is created with a three-dimensional effect that is completely textured. In Kali the hair is in wire and coal tar, which renders the painting a 3D effect. In the Bull series an assortment of canvases has been used at various dimensions on wood to create a texture that has been held together with tar.
Simran’s paintings are infused with life and the thought and hard work that goes behind each piece is not stuff of the ordinary. For instance, when asked aboutthe details of a huge canvas radiating a brilliant colour palette, he reveals, “The canvas was covered in thick tarmac and then I drove a car over it.” The stunning effect is for all to see.
Simran’s interest lie beyond the canvas as well. He has made several independent short films that have been screened at leading film festivals across the globe. But the canvas will remain his first love.
“I am more passionate about paintings as I find it more challenging,” he declares.