'I am No Feminist': Anupam Sud

Five decades of art practice, three of which were spent teaching printmaking at her alma mater, College of Art, Delhi. The dual relationship of darkness and shadow features prominently in artist Anupam Sud’s works. And like most of her ilk, her works are reflections of the society around her. “My works feature society, people and me—my experiences in them,” she says.

On show at Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) till October 31, the exhibition—Between Vows and Words—spans five decades of Sud’s artistic oeuvre. Though primarily known as a printmaker—she was encouraged by the stalwart printmaker Somnath Hore while in college and further mentored by her teacher Jagmohan Chopra—the exhibition also boasts oils, sketches and even early watercolours by the artist. Some of her early works remind one of the eminent painter, Jogen Chowdhury.

Her work is dominated and characterised by women. Sud—born in 1944 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab—believes, “For me, the woman’s body is not only visual, but it is also my source of experiencing the world.” Does that make her a feminist artist? She counters vigorously, “I hate being called a feminist. I’m an artist. I draw from those around me. Feminism has no bearing on my art. I don’t want to be burdened with such labels.”

How would she categorise her art then? “Why do you want to box me and my work? I create art for my own satisfaction. Many have tried to compartmentalise my art by saying that my work is socially committed. I disagree. If I were to commit myself socially, I would rather be a social worker and not an artist. I create what appeals to me and my senses. It is as simple as that. You can try to find a metaphor in my works, but I would rather that you simply enjoy the artworks, like I enjoy the process,” says the 78-year-old artist.

At the same time, she agrees that the present—and what is happening around her in society—does often find resonance in her works. “It is natural. I do get affected by what is happening around me. Some of what is happening around me creeps into my work, while some are left locked in some faraway corner of my mind. Maybe someday that too will unravel itself on canvas. I don’t know. All I can say is I let my creativity guide me. It often feels like a sacrilege to disturb the peaceful blankness of a virgin paper. I tremble at the thought. But then once I start drawing, I let my hand guide the form,” Sud adds.

Many artists feel they have never really completed a work, even when it reaches the last stroke. Does she feel the same? “Not really. Especially with printmaking, you can keep adding and subtracting on the plate. But once it is finalised and the print is made, there is nothing you can do. Also, I find it easy to distance myself from my art. Once I finish a print or a painting, I can step back and let it loose into the world. I don’t harbour regrets. I don’t ponder on what may have been,” she says.

Even though Sud refuses to categorise her art and looks down with disdain at being called a feminist, she is quick to label herself a ‘nationalist’. Born three years before independence, the artist remembers the nationalistic fervour of the early days of freedom and it has stayed long with her. “I grew up in an India that had newly gained freedom. Abiding with the times, my grandfather was keen that we children get enrolled in an ‘Indian’ school with nationalistic values and not be ‘convent-educated’ with emphasis on the British curriculum. Needless to say, this nationalistic streak has stayed with me. I’m a proud Indian and that is the feeling I carry with me all the time,” she says.

Sud’s prints and paintings are largely dominated by women. While some of the figures have their eyes averted from the focus as if in deep reflection, there are others who look on fearlessly into the distance. There are also mythological references in her work. The artist believes such references crept into her work because of how she was brought up listening to mythological tales.

“You always tend to carry your roots and culture with you. My work speaks of all that. Maybe that is why people term me a feminist because my work is fearless. I was brought up in a house that no concept of ‘feminism’ as we see it now, but all the same that allowed for men and women to be considered equal while also understanding and respecting their many differences,” says the artist who spent a large part of her early life in Shimla.

While Sud maintains that her art is not at all feminist in nature or expression, when she was called ‘India’s Michelangelo’ by a viewer at the KNMA gallery during the course of the exhibition, Sud was quick to retort, “Couldn’t you find a woman artist to compare me with?”