Deeply embedded in Indian culture and present in many ways in myriad households, Ganapati has been the subject for artists and craftsmen since times immemorial. But hardly any artists have embraced the figure the way Sujata has done. The inexhaustible character of the form explains why it has taken the artist more than 30 years for this project to mature. For any artistic project, an incubation of this length is something quite out of the ordinary.
For Sujata Bajaj, Ganapati is her reservoir of color as she claims with great reverence. Speaking on her inspiration, "To me the form of Ganapati has a distinctive individuality in my empathy and in my creative being. It is the most boundless and playful form absorbed with positivity and optimism, it gives me a feeling of confidence and buoyancy and eliminates the presence of apprehension from within."
The Lord of Beginnings, Ganapati is ananta, beyond time and at the heart of an evolving mythology whose interpretation and inspiration yield practical life instructions. This path moves in spontaneity beyond form, dogma and personality. Artist Sujata Bajaj's fascination with him is - like the deity - abiding. Consisting of a wide body of work spread over three decades, she has painted, etched and sculpted, yielding an artistic abundance that is happily contradistinct with her early life, primed for Gandhian austerity. This series offers a selection from her recent works on Ganapati - a collection of work that we are privileged to showcase.