The first thing that he did, as soon as he landed in Delhi, was to scan the markets and get hold of books on birds and animals. Like many other of his contemporaries, it is not one of his prime agendas to be at the India Art Fair the entire day and discuss art. He would rather be busy in digging out stories that could give him a chance to create an image in his head and come up with a stunning narrative.
Something like a King Kong — a huge watercolour canvas that you can see at the ongoing Art Fair. “That is not even the actual size. The actual size is gigantic to say the least,” said artist Walton Ford, while he rested on a couch at The Park hotel.
The New Yorker is now famous across the world for his king-size watercolour drawings and “though they might look very traditional, because of the use of traditional medium but they are actually based on a very contemporary idea.” The King Kong is close to his heart and it is based on the story that he loved most as a kid. It is based on 1933 monster adventure film that Ford still loves to watch.
The story is about this giant monster who is in love with this creature, who is opposite to him in every way. While he tries different things to get close to her, all she does is shouts at him. “I have portrayed him as a heart broken lover. Poor guy, couldn’t help, he was plainly in love. Whenever I watch this movie, I feel pity for this animal. He is no monster, but a creature in love.
My works do not show him as a raging monster, but depict different stages of his grief,” explained Ford. In the giant-size paintings that are everywhere around him, in his phone and on his laptop, you can make out the tears and every emotion that Ford is talking about.
His affair with the animal narratives started long ago, the time when he actually started doing watercolours. Whatever he read, he drew a reference, an image of an animal figure in his mind and then started to work on it. It surely is a tedious process that takes “real long.” It is one of the reasons that he doesn’t do more than six pieces of art in a year.
“I study cultural history of animals and pick up the characters that have been a part of the human imaginations. I keep my focus on folk tales and stories that emerge around me. For example, at present I am working on a series on wolves. It is believed that during 18th century in France, some wolves were killed.
It might have been killed by the hunters, but then the story was exaggerated by the local folks, media and other sources. Later, it was being said that there was some mystery beast killing the wolves. Nobody knows actually what happened. So these wolves are a subject of my interest right now.
I am collecting and reading more text on this. I am also looking for some images that are available. But even if images are not available I use my own imagination to come up with the piece,” explained Ford.
Most of his works earlier drew political and strong historical references, but after a certain period of time, “I stopped doing that, and now it is just flora and fauna that interests me.”
It is almost unimaginable, that talk of folklore and animal stories and not mention about India. Ford is mighty fascinated and impressed with the stories here. His artbook, that is a compilation of his works is called Pancha Tantra for the reason that, “it was the first literature in the history that some stories were told with the help of animals. India is full of such stories and many of my works revolve around them.”
The most famous is Nila. A huge elephant marked with different points and surrounded by different migratory birds. “Nila is also the name of the diagram that Mahavats use to study the pressure points to control the elephants. The migratory birds are the symbol of foreigners who keep visiting India as their pilgrimage spot. I have divided the painting in several slides to denote that people come to the place from so many regions,” he said.
His other work that has a strong Indian connect is that of a Gir Tiger. He has an entire story behind it to share. “I read about this Indian saint who was walking in the forest with his servant and they spotted a skeletal pieces. The saint decides to collect the skeletal pieces and what emerges is, the tiger comes to life. The foolish fellow, a servant climbs on the tree and the saint is kneeling in front of the roaring tiger. This is what is showcased in the work,” said Ford.
Another work which is very much Indian and equally interesting is related to Sir Richard Burton. Though you will not find him anywhere in the works, it is his monkeys that find space in the works. “African explorer, Sir Richard Burton, was one of these 19th century explorer. He was a complete lunatic. He was a linguist and knew something like 30 or 40 languages. He translated the Kama Sutra into English.
He translated The Perfume Garden. He spoke Arabic and Hindustani. He was stationed in India in the 1840s, during the Raj, as an English officer. He has many monkeys living with him. One, out of which, he termed as his wife and it is showcased in my paintings wearing earrings. His monkeys in different stages and situations are a part of my works,” added Ford.
He is one of few artists who has stuck to the traditional watercolour medium and he says he don’t have any plans to even change. “It got me recognition and I chose watercolour because they are the traditional language of the text. Though my works take reference from stories across the world, but I know that they still have a Western touch to them. I don’t know how to feel about it, though!” he concluded.
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