Foreign artist captures spirituality of Indian culture

New Delhi: New York based artist, Maxine Henryson, finds true solace in Indian deity. This splendid harmony is aptly reflected in a photography exhibition being hosted by at A.I.R. Gallery,Brooklyn, New York. The exhibition titled Maxine Henryson: from Ujjayi’s Journey, will be on view till June 22, 2014.

Ujjayi means “victorious breath” in Sanskrit. Henryson photographed Ujjayi’s Journey during five trips to India between 1996 and 2008. The spiritual aspect of Indian culture was of particular interest to her, especially the Mahadevi (Great Goddess), who can manifest herself in multiple forms, and Darsan, the process of worship whereby the devotee views the deity and the deity views the devotee. In Ujjayi’s Journey the artist explores religious coexistence, rituals, the female worlds, and nature. She tells the story of her search for the divine-as-feminine within India’s contemporary culture, linking the present to the past.

In her exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery, Henryson expands the scope of her work, including new large-scale photographs printed on inkjet paper in archival inks; they are objects of remarkable color, physicality, and intensity.  Earlier works have been integrated into the project, and new juxtapositions create new meaning. Playing with composition, color, scale, and height, Henryson has created an installation that evokes the “experiential memory” of place. The works are arranged in an elliptical sequence to form a cohesive visual poem.

Henryson often uses blur in her work, giving her subjects a strong symbolic power. The result is reminiscent of the sometimes nostalgic and blurry paintings of Gerhard Richter.

Landscapes, interiors, street scenery, still life, even static architecture is lent a sense of motion. Space and time are extended, compositional elements and figures blur until they appear to form a new reality. Despite the ever-changing themes of mood, light and culture, Maxine Henryson’s work is highly coherent and conceptual. Her color photographs impress with their enormous variety of nuance as well as a calm contemplative expressiveness.