Microcosm, macrocosm IV – acrylic on canvas by Mahen Chanmugam

• StArtist Mahen Chanmugam on his 30-year journey painting the elephant god Ganesha

He dances, performs, meditates and brings calm. He is emotive, reflective and serene. He is the god of beginnings. ‘Ganeshism5’ opened at the Barefoot Gallery and will be on until 24 June. The collection is based on an art form that has revolved around the ancient Vedic philosophy of self realisation. And, for artist Mahen Chanmugam, each time he puts paint to canvas, it is a new beginning. Having had these epiphanies for over 30 years, Chanmugam’s work is about deep truths, spirituality, and the deity being a mirror to the soul. Chanmugam was on Kaleidoscope last week. 

Following are excerpts from the interview:

What inspired this 30-year journey with Ganesha?

It all started in the early 1990s, when my work moved into designing brand identity systems for corporates in Singapore. I began to look closely at the iconography and symbolism of the oldest brand identities – religions. 

My case study was lord Ganesh. And so, just like that, I started painting Ganesha in all the classic forms, trying to understand the iconographic principles or rules of perfect poise and the different symbolisms. But, when I started painting Ganesha, I really had no idea that I would continue for such a long time thereafter. 

These were basically a set of complex identity guidelines for Ganesha’s many forms. But, after a few years of only painting the classic forms, I started to paint my own interpretation of what the symbolism means to me. And, since then, it has become a lifelong personal path, a sort of journey, or a search for an elusive understanding that almost always feels so near when I paint. 

I try to use symbolism, metaphor, and allegory to convey spiritual and philosophical ideas through the art, but ultimately, at a personal level, the process of painting Ganesha is a sort of daily spiritual practice that has grown on me. It can sometimes feel like a deep meditation or a journey inside. I can’t really see that changing in the years to come. 

How do you correlate your personal beliefs with that of what Ganesh embodies?

My personal beliefs have been largely shaped by the philosophical symbolism that sits behind Ganesha. I am not conventionally religious. Temples and churches are buildings I rarely enter. But perhaps, as a single subject artist for more than a quarter of a century now, the subject has almost naturally become a part of an inner image, a sort of meditative form the process of painting brings out. 

Not just an external ‘projection’ onto canvas, but also an internal journey into the Vedic concepts of self realisation, the nature of consciousness, the interconnectedness of all things, and the relationship between humanity and the universe. The process of painting Ganesha has been a kind of mirror to my soul. 

And, as the Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky says in his 1910 volume ‘Concerning the Spiritual in Art’, “the form is the outer expression of the inner content”, so I guess that the paintings are simply a reflection of my beliefs.

What hidden gems have you found out about Ganesha in the course of your work?

Ganesha has eight different avatars in eight different Yugas (age of time). In physics, the eightfold way is an organisational scheme for a class of subatomic particles known as hadrons that led to the development of the quark model. This is just one of the parallels for the microcosm and macrocosm of life, with Ganesha as the symbol of gravity, connecting modern science to the hypothesis of inner worlds in ancient Vedic literature. 

Taking on the painting of a god can be a challenging task as there are lots of elements that may offend people, or go very wrong. How do you navigate that?

I paint as a spiritual practice, for myself and not for others. There’s spontaneity to the process that doesn’t leave any room for my mind to contemplate what others might think of the art. As the painting progresses, it takes on a life of its own and I just go along with it. It is not hard for anyone to see that my intention is not to offend, or to show Ganesha’s form in any disrespectful way. 

For me, Ganesha represents an infinite energy, one that I’m constantly trying to project through a finite form. The process of capturing that magical feeling of this cosmic energy has been the main artistic pursuit for many years now, nothing more than that.

How did you make the discovery of the female Ganesha, who you have placed on canvas?

Vinayaki, the female form of Ganesha, is a curious form, with references in Vedic literature and many stone carvings discovered by archaeologists, dating back to the 1st Century.

She is commonly believed to be the Shakti of Ganesh/Vinayaka, or the creativeness of the god. According to J. Herbert (1930), the Ganesh Shakti is diversely represented. Sometimes, she is a twin figure, one is Buddhi (supra mental power of understanding), the other is Siddhi (higher cleverness and superhuman power) or Riddhi (perfection). These goddesses are represented with normal human bodies, but in esoteric situations. 

The Shakti is named Vinayaki/Ganeshani and is represented with an elephant head and a female body. These feminine Ganesh forms have been discovered in 64 Yogini enclosures or temples. The scholar and historian Dr. P.K. Agrawal has indexed 18 such Yogini temples in India with one, supposedly, in Sri Lanka.

What has the journey of Ganeshism1 through 5 been like?

The subject matter of the art has always been the same, but, over the years, everything from the technique to the context has changed. It began as paintings of Ganesha’s classic forms, then taken into an artistic concept and eventually, it has grown into an art form that reflects a philosophy of life, or a personal feeling for me.

Visually, the early paintings were brighter, more fluorescent classic forms, and after the second show, the art started becoming more conceptual and more symbolic in nature. But now, the colours are more muted or ‘earthy’, and the image of Ganesha much softer and more about the formless energy that he represents. 

The art now embraces the idea that the form (swaroop) is only created to give ‘shape’ or to bring out that which is formless (parabrahma roopa). In a nutshell, the shift has been from the more classical forms in the 1990s and early 2000s, to the more conceptual depictions featured in the show now.

Some of the works in this collection have an element of the abstract and the unconventional, which is a somewhat courageous step given that you are working with a god. How do you marry the two?

The painting process is quite spontaneous and the fact that the art does sometimes have a level of abstraction is not because of any courageous decision, but simply a natural occurrence, one that is not so premeditated.

Eventually, for me, the single subject of a deity seems to blend seamlessly and naturally into the abstraction of a conceptual setting. But, it’s important to understand that when we try to illustrate concepts like consciousness and inner worlds, a certain level of abstraction is required to visually express these ideas.

What is the most rewarding compliment you’ve had about your works and the most uncomplimentary? 

The most rewarding have been about the energy that the paintings bring to the space or room a collector hangs it up in. I have always believed that there is an energy or a spiritual and emotional quality that flows through the paintings. 

Just like a yogi breathes into the pose, an artist breathes into a painting, for hours, days, weeks and even months, sometimes. The work, like the yogis pose, has a pulse, and I firmly believe that every painting, created with the right intentions and motivations has this energy living within it. I haven’t really had any uncomplimentary comments as such, except for some lines written in the guest book several years ago that suggested that I have no right to distort the divine form of Ganesha into a woman with breasts. Since then, I always include scholarly references and a write up for the feminine aspect of Ganesha. 

What’s next for this journey that Ganesha and you have taken together?

I have no idea and that’s the beauty of it. But, as the lord of thresholds, beginnings and endings are the special province of lord Ganesh, which could explain some part of my fascination with him and the iconography that describes him. 

My life has been unusually full of beginnings and endings, good ones that ended badly, bad ones that ended well. But, all this time, art has been a constant platform for me to express ideas, emotions, and experiences in a unique and personal way, so I don’t see myself deviating from this path anytime soon. What’s next will be what it will be.

(The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media.)