Sheila Malhotra’s work currently on display at the Taj Art Gallery vividly recaptures visions of the high seas, as seen through portholes. Niyatee on the ‘Through The Porthole’ series.
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Sheila Malhotra’s work is about boundaries and obscuring absolutes that she offers as viewed through the porthole of a ship. Years of traveling on a schooner to accompany her husband left enough imprints on her mind that now find expression with oil and canvas. Her sea views and the studies of life beyond this portal, establish allegories and esoteric possibilities that perhaps were not so much her intention as an explicit detailing.

Integrating photo-realistic images with paint constructs, she attempts to recapture the sights that abound beyond, on the high seas. Eliminating any geographical or temporarily distinctive elements, she paints choppy seas, stormy skies, dark black night, starry celestial scape and grey foggy misty times, while also recalling sea life in the birds and the jostling, diving fishes. Though the focus of her attention is this vast expanse of the world ahead of the porthole, her concentration on the detailed construct of the window with its thickly framed glass and complex intricate securing bolts is also obvious. These portholes tilt and tip at heady angles to coincide with and synchronize the motion of the sea vessel as it rides the waves and ploughs the sea.

Despite the scale of the views (through the actual size of the window) Malhotra succeeds in capturing the promise of a liberating air. The anguish of being at the mercy of nature, the compelling space of the ship and the monotony of months spent within the confines of the sea vessel on vast sheets of ocean waters all stay on the fringe and are not easily invoked. Though as she says, “It, can be quite disturbing and traumatic, you know.”

Presently on display at the Taj Art Gallery, this series ‘Through The Porthole’ is a change from her earlier works. “I used to paint figurative,” she repeats, “but this theme was always on my mind, and I had planned to paint it someday.” In the present show the absence of the human presence is also all too conspicuous.

“But I have painted the birds and other things related to sea life. Human beings are on land just as the birds and fishes are part of sea life,” she explains. “I did not feel the need to paint human beings. Also the presence of man is automatically assumed,” she adds further.

Curiously, in one of the works, Malhotra offers a rethinking of the traditional porthole. The cloth bound eye-shaped porthole redefines not only the format but also suggests an alternative viewing. In tow other works, Malhotra changes bearings and moves to the outer side of the porthole, looking inwards. Incidentally, the frame of this ship’s side window holds a splintered glass. The checkered surface inside fades into a dark arcane region.

“I have deliberately painted it fading, in order to suggest the unknown and the possibility of a lot more,” she explains. All the canvases have the speciousness and have to be taken for their veneer representation.

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