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An artistic imprint
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Art Margaret Henry’s prints charmed the viewer with their creative involvement
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Startling genesis The Tree of Life is inspired by a scan of Margaret’s blocked aorta
A recent show of monotypes by English printmaker Margaret Henry threw up several interesting works. One got to know that Margaret, who is in her seventies, took up art seriously only after her retirement and completed a foundation course at Loughboro
ugh College of Art before following it with a degree in Fine Art (Print making).
Margaret’s prints on display charmed the viewer by their creative involvement. The artist, who seemed to be at ease with both figurative and abstract elements in her works, drew inspiration from her own personal experience.
Prints titled “Creation” and “Genesis” were said to be motivated by her sighting of distant galaxies, exploding stars and cosmic dust through Hubble telescope.
“To see what had been incomprehensible to me, the beginning of our universe, was magical in its beauty and did not disappoint as it still was as mysterious and impossible to grasp as the concept of infinity.”
The print titled “The Tree of Life” had a more poignant story: it was based on a scan taken of Margaret’s own blocked aorta three years ago. “It is a part of my body that I had never given thought to but is, of course, one on which I am dependent for my very existence. What interested me when I saw the scan was the inversion of the tree of life, a symbol of possibility turned into one of my increasing immobility. I do not see the image as negative though because the tree of life, if it truly represents all of life with its realities of disease and death, is a reminder to enjoy the ‘journey’, rather than the final destination.”
In several other works, Margaret took the viewer through a creatively guided tour of different places and locales. She was inspired by prehistoric figurines as much as ruined castles and disintegrating edifices in Havana , Lebanon, Syria , etc.
The outcome of her artistic journeys was the creation of some touching images like “The Venus of Willendorf” which was based on a small prehistoric terracotta figure unearthed in Germany.
“When I first saw an image of this figure, I wept,” recalled Margaret. “It embodied for me all that I feel we are as women, and it celebrated that, made it powerful. Fertility, creation and motherhood were placed into an object of worship that was not a man’s vision of a woman but, as we are, imperfect and feminine.”
Although the works were in small format, the viewer could not miss the verve and enthusiasm of the artist, and as importantly, the spirit of creation. The exhibition recently concluded at Time and Space Art Gallery.
GIRIDHAR KHASNIS
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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