Ranajit Sinha
Artist Statement
Death is a subject that most if not all humans wonder about. It is the desire to understand the unknown that drives many of our motivations of life. There is an understandable amount of fear about what comes after our physical body is no longer an intelligent functioning part of the world. My conceptual idea of the wood-burning technique originated from observing a Hindu funeral ritual. This experience led me to think about the myths of life, death and human existence. While I watched the human body burn to ashes I realized how both human flesh and wood give up their original form and colour to take a different form and colour: charcoal. As per the Hindu philosophy, death is not the end of an individual, but a new beginning in a dynamic process. It is like a change of old clothes for new. Death leads to birth of a new life. That is why the funeral rite is a rite of passaage where the body is burnt to charcoal, setting the soul free to take a new form. I compare the complete cycle of my work to that of the cycle of a human life.
The main focus of my work is to analyze the notion of hybridism within various conflicting spatial approaches. My effort is to find a link between the expressive and conceptual.
Education
2004 MFA in Painting, Central Washington University, Ellensberg, WA, USA
1987 MFA Printmaking, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India
1984 BFA Painting, Delhi College of Arts, New Delhi, India
Selected Exhibitions
Solo
2004 Recent Works of Ranajit Sinha, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA, USA
1999 Recent Works, Exhibition at Bur Juman Centre Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
1998 Art of Ranajit Sinha, Ras Al Khaimah University Hall, RAK, UAE
Group
2007 Crossing Borders, Varley Gallery, Markham
2006 East/West, Canadian Sculpture Centre, Toronto
2005 New Members Show, Canadian Sculpture Centre
2005 International Art Exhibition, Agora Gallery, Chelsea, New York
2005 Group Show, Foyer Art Gallery, Nepean Visual Arts Centre, Ottawa
2003 Annual Juried Art Show, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA, USA
2002 Annual Show, Colour and Form Society, Art Gallery of Mississauga
2002 Group Show, Colour and Form Society, Hummingbird Centre, Toronto
Sinha has exhibited in Canada, USA, India and the United Arab Emirates, where he also has public collections including portraits for the Sheikhs of the Royal Palace of Dubai.
email: gallery@cansculpt.org
Media: Wood
SSC Member Since: 2005
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