Sustainability is foremost at the heart of Diyali Sen Bhalla’s art

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Born in India and currently based in Dubai, Diyali Sen Bhalla is a visual artist and illustrator. “I see myself as an artist unrestricted in the use of media and surfaces to express, communicate and engage with my environment,” she says.

Art making for her is a work in progress and more importantly, an inward quest of self-discovery. Through her artworks, she hopes to raise questions, provoke imagination and motivate people.

Bhalla expresses her creativity through spontaneous lines and strokes, mark making and pulling and pushing boundaries in all mediums and planes with a free spirited approach. Her artworks, she says, are a personal expression of the human condition as it evolves in the context of everyday life.

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She uses found materials to work with such as fabric, ropes and threads and twigs and tea bags, among others. She is inspired by life and its nuances and by her own spiritual journey to reach within and find and express the emotions she experiences. The themes of her creations are based primarily on sustainability; it is something she feels very strongly about. She has exhibited in numerous art shows in India, Europe and the Middle East, including Tunisia and Lebanon, and her artworks in oil, acrylic, inks and mixed media, have found homes in all parts of the world. She involves herself in various social causes through art projects in the UAE and exclusive works for auction for causes she believes in have been shown at Christie’s auction house, Raffles Hotel, Dubai, and at the Burjuman Breast Cancer Campaign. She is also engaged in Special Needs projects and in works for People of Determination. She has held numerous classes on collaborative art therapy and hosted energy workshops.

 Diyali Sen Bhalla is based in Dubai.

She is also a fashion designer who successfully ran her own business enterprise for many years in India. As instructor in fashion design, illustration and art, her fashion illustrations have been published in Vogue Arabia. Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Dubai International Art Centre (DIAC), one of the oldest and prestigious art institutes in Dubai. Diyali Sen Bhalla answers Gulf Today’s questions

Why do you like abstracts?

Abstracts are non-representational and give the freedom to express oneself in one’s own way. I like abstracts because I paint in an instinctive manner: it helps me to carve out my own expressions of interest. I also connect with the tools I use - and that plays a large part in my artworks.

How is art an inner quest for you?

Whether it’s painting or installation artwork, art for me is a means to express and communicate with my environment. I hope to question the viewer and bring about an awareness of the message of hope and personal growth I would like to send out. As I delve and evolve in my spiritual quest, I would like to connect it to my expression through art.

You work in DIAC also – is it difficult to combine an administrator’s life with that of an artist’s?

I have had the privilege and honour of serving on the board of directors as Chairperson of DIAC and I enjoy my work there. It gives me the opportunity to interact with so many creative people and also be able to play an active role in creating events and shows for artists and facilitate the progress of art and culture in our society. I feel that by doing so, my duty as an administrator also helps me to create and work better as an artist.

Your work seems chaotic. Is this opinion correct?

My work expresses the chaos in nature. Also, it represents in many ways the chaos in our inner worlds. I would like to think that my compositions encourage the viewer to be thoughtful and more introspective. My objective is to send a message through my artworks of creating a life of value and balance.

Does a kind of negativity inform your works?

As a race, we have made huge advancements in many fields: but unfortunately in that quest yoked to speed, we have forgotten to stay balanced. Through my artworks I try to raise a realisation and a will to strike a balance.

Fury and serenity find a place on your canvas. Would you like to comment?

As I mentioned before, there is a balance in nature and that balance is what we must find within ourselves too. While there is the fury that humanity has created, there is also a kind of peace that I hope they would bring about through awareness. My artworks sometimes do show the negative influence of humanity on nature - but they also include a message of hope and balance.

How do illustration, the abstract and fashion connect with each other?

My expressions in the creative field include illustrations and abstract art. My profession as a fashion designer ties up with abstract art and painting as they are both influenced by the experience of humanity. As a fashion designer and artist, my work has been to help people see themselves as complete and beautiful beings and as integral parts of their environment.

Who are the artists who inspire you? Why?

Artists who have been brave and original and have raised their voice through their expressions have always inspired me. Kandinsky, Mondrian, Van Gogh, Picasso, S.H. Raza and Tyeb Mehta are just a few whose works I love.