KOUSHAL CHOUDHARY ARTIST

In Koushal Choudhary’s paintings the effect of dynamic surfaces, with dissolving and emerging forms, rhythmic patterns, and textural explorations tinged with bursts of colour is a powerful experience. In his most recent ‘Connections’ series, one can see ridges and folds of paint, applied with generosity and intense demarcated spaces, creating recognisable shapes and figures within abstract planes. These are an artist’s contemplations on the world around, enveloping natural phenomena, and also the wider cosmos and otherworldly dimensions. For Koushal, the act of painting appears as a state of consciousness that allows the flow of various elements, both physical and emotional, into visual, tangible form. Each work that is created with this act, is filled with a sense of pulsating life, and articulated sentiments. He is deeply aware of contemporary contexts and the motifs of chaos and technology that wire the everyday working of human life, and yet these become interspersed with a wider depiction of the microcosm and macrocosm.

The colours speak for themselves, functioning as a sensitive medium mirroring moods and emotions. The artist employs varied devices to manipulate paint on the surface – sometimes establishing rigid boundaries, and other times leaving a free flow of pigments. Adding and subtracting to the surface is part of his process; the elements begin with deft drawn lines and result sometimes in impasto layers. The ongoing paintings are both intuitive and studied – they reflect Koushal’s gestures, and physical and psychological involvement in the painting process. Both figuration and abstraction become part of the imagery drawn from a personal, social and cultural environment, as well as memory and collective history. He studies human nature and relationships in their subtle essence, as well as momentary shifts in concepts of time and space. The paintings invite the viewer into deeper engagement with them, and can be interpreted variedly. The intense colours and textures, linear constructions and spatial formations establish varied layers and dimensions in a painting.

Koushal’s visual language seems attuned to both abstract and representational, and frequently the two are combined. In his process, which is meditative, external layers of objects and forms are peeled away to reveal the inner energy.
– LINA VINCENT (Art Historian – Curator)