Untitled

Artist: Piraji Sagara
Medium: Oil and Carving on Wood
Size: 29 × 49 inches (73.66 × 124.46 cm)
Year: 1962

In this compelling diptych, Piraji Sagara unites sculpture and painting through a dynamic interplay of carved relief and vivid pigment, creating a resonant meditation on identity, emotion, and abstraction. Composed of two circular, bas-relief panels joined together, the work features highly stylized portraits, likely female, rendered in a dark, brownish-bronze tone that evokes the rich patina of aged metal. These abstracted visages, while non-representational in the conventional sense, are deeply expressive, defined by intricate grooves, contours, and flowing linear elements that evoke both facial structure and stylized hair.

The textured surfaces are carved into wood and further animated through the application of oil pigment. Bright color accents, strikingly applied within specific areas of the composition, serve as visual focal points and emotional signifiers. One face displays a vibrant yellow highlight in the forehead and eye area, suggesting illumination or inner awareness, while a deep red hue in the mouth region intensifies the emotional register. The companion face includes a small yet distinct area of blue near its base, offering a cooler, introspective counterbalance. These punctuations of color sharply contrast with the dominant dark bronze tone of the wood, underscoring moments of psychic intensity or symbolic meaning.

Surrounding each face is a band inscribed with repeating motifs or script-like symbols. These glyphs, whether purely aesthetic or linguistically inspired, reinforce the layered, culturally rich visual language that defines Sagara’s oeuvre. They suggest a timeless quality, invoking ancient iconography or spiritual scripts, and offer the viewer a sense of encoded meaning waiting to be deciphered.

Piraji Sagara, a key figure in post-Independence Indian modernism, was known for his synthesis of traditional craft and modern abstraction. This work exemplifies that synthesis, blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture, figuration and symbolism. The choice of wood as medium, with its inherent warmth and organic irregularities, enhances the tactile experience of the artwork, inviting viewers to engage not only visually but almost haptically with its surface. More than mere portraiture, this double-panel work becomes a meditation on presence, memory, and emotion. Through its bold formal language, symbolic color, and carved intricacies, the piece invites deep reflection on the multiplicity of identity and the expressive potential of abstraction. It stands as a testament to Sagara’s enduring ability to merge form and feeling in pursuit of visual and spiritual resonance.