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Zarina and her graphic art;
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Attracted by a wood-cut, done in the Japanese style, which she saw in Thailand more than a decade back Zarina took up printmaking and is now one of the leading graphic artists working in India.
After studying at the Department of Fine Arts, Bangkok, she returned to New Delhi only to move out again with her diplomat husband, this time to Paris and the famous 'Atelier 17.'
There she worked under Stanley William Hayter, the man who raised modern printmaking to the level of a 20th century art form, comparable with the painting or sculpture.
Hayter proved a major influence on the young Indian artist "I was influenced not so much by his work as by his approach to work, by his personality. He is the most well known printmaker of today and largely responsible for the respect and popularity that graphic art has acquired."
Zarina's entry into print-making was not through the
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Zarina

traditional art school education which most artists have to endure. Before she was introduced to graphic work she had been painting, mostly portraits, while as a student in her home town of Aligarh.
"I consider the absence of formal training a definite advantage," she said. "I have escaped the long process of learning at "school and then struggling to forget it later and relearning it the proper way. This also means I am free of any preconceived ideas."
A noticeable feature of Zarina's woodcuts, now being displayed at the Pundole Art Gallery, is the delicacy and economy of the compositions combined with the an absense of colour. Most of the woodcuts are in shades of black or brown.

of painting and sculpture in our country?
"Do you think painting and sculpture are important here?" Zarina retorted. But then explained that the revival of graphic art abroad proved popular because they have highly skilled professional printers who can produce hundreds of copies and satisfy the public's urge to possess an 'original.'
She emphatically believes that Indian graphic artists are superior as outsiders (wasn't Krishma Reddy a huge success in America?) though they have much less opportunities to do

THE FREE PRESS BULLETIN THURSDAY DECEMBER 17, 1970

Does she find any difficulty in using too many colours? No, says Zarina, it's just that she does not find any necessity for colours, especially in her more recent work. Lately she has worked mainly with wood and the prints have been very direct—taking pieces of wood, putting them together, arranging the grains the way she likes, no carving, and working not just on the block but with the empty spaces on the paper too. That is why in some of her prints the blank spaces contribute at the actual print.
While the West is witnessing a print-making boom, with many artists taking to the graphic medium, this art form is still undeveloped and unpopular in India. When would printmaking acquire the importance 

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Zarina
elodious voices, but with the
lent to sing well.
He often sings for the hero in
ays, but only in Tagore plays.
s discs keep his busy. They

Zarina is the other guest. She has brought her graphics with her from Delhi and will have them on display at the Pundole Art Gallery up to this Saturday.
"Graphics" is a term that covers a wide spectrum. Zarina has taken them up her prints by placing pieces of wood in juxtaposition and inking them out on paper. Sometimes she deepens the etchings on weather-beaten driftwood and takes out their impression.
Zarina calls it a fascination for wood, a medium which conveys her feelings, but critics thinks she is great. She holds last year's national award for graphics, and her works have found their way into the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, the Altair at Brussels, the Curwen Gallery, London, La Hune, Paris, and the Hemisphere, Australia.
Born and educated at Aligarh, Zarina recieved no formal education in art. Her interest for woodcuts was born at the department of fine arts in Bangkok. She has had four shows in Delhi and this is her debut in Bombay.
Zarina says that her work is instinctive, not caged in by rules. But, strangely enough, cages, walls and fencings seem to interest her a great deal. She has achieved fascinating patterns with grained wood and when their titles are explained, you can understand her views on life. She believes in coming down to the bare essentials through the process of rejection. There is an interesting exhibit to illustrate this—a vertical design created through horizontal lines.
I think you will agree with an artist who photographed her tools hanging on the wall of her studio an said, "Zarina, this is your portrait. But then, you must first see Zarina, her works and that photograph.

Shyamala

good work. As for her, she has her own workshop in a New Delhi suburb, equipped with a press, and produces limited editions of her prints.
In spite of the tremendous popularity of graphic prints in the West, Zarina prefers to work in India. "For us to be accepted in those countries is very difficult," she says. "Not because we are technically inferior but because are socially aliens."
. . .