|
 Prabha
Shah's art is a harmony of two seeming polarities
- architecture and nature. Her latest exhibition is
a marvel of structures, cement, time, space, closed
doors hinting at the space beyond, havelis,
clouds, storm and eternity on canvas. Her paintings
surpass the silent void in her life. "Through
the paintings I try to express how I silently experience
the air, the cool breeze, the heat of the deserts
or the wet fragrance of the rain. I feel as if I am
living in the canvas I create," she says.
For this painter the triumphant ascent was not a
rosy one . At birth a drastic misfortune struck her
when she was born with an impaired auditory perception.
But the pain did not end there. It was the beginning
of a challenging struggle. At the tender age of seven
the prejudiced attitude of her school staff due to
her handicap made her leave the school and Kala
Dira where she lived had little to offer her fertile
imagination. " My mother would cry when she
realized I would never speak," she expresses
with a faraway look in her eyes.
 Things
started looking up when her father was transferred
to Jaipur. She joined joined Lady Noyce school
for deaf, dumb and blind. It was there she developed
interest in painting. Her parents and her teachers
nourished her imagination and which she beautifully
expressed through colours.
Prabha's paintings have consciously imbued the architecture
and the atmosphere of her surroundings. Her canvases
are rooted in the world around us. However, her brushes
stroke the sunny side of life like her own disposition.
Her canvases are far away from the pain, trauma and
degeneration of the world. The choice of her colours
are very luxuriant that has little place for blacks.
Her silence has not impinged on her work, rather they
shape the ingredients of her work: the colours, the
contours, the composition, the context. Humans don't
find a very prominent place but their world does.
Every painting of hers reflects a positive aspect
of life.
 Her
earlier paintings have been influenced by her stay
in Udaipur and Jaipur. "My early
years were spent in Jaipur and my paintings depict
trees, desert and barren land," she says.
The city of lakes and palaces Udaipur has found implicit
place on her canvas.
She likes to work in oil. As the medium is more
flexible and it provides more depth to the painting.
Her maiden exhibition was held at Jaipur in 1967
and from there began the unending saga of success.
With her paintings she has trotted the globe and expressed
her depth through them. Her happiest moments are those
when she is able to communicate her feelings to the
viewers. She has held solo exhibitions in Canada,
London, Mumbai and Calcutta.
The fiercely independent lady travels alone which
gives her immense self confidence. Her unwavering
pursuit in not succumbing to her handicap has won
her many laurels.
 She
is the recipient of many awards:
Common Wealth Society for the deaf
Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy
National federation of UNESCO
AIFACS Maharana Sajjan Singh
Her works are in the collections of Rashtrapati
Bhawan, Cabinet Secretariat, Raj Niwas, National Gallery
of Modern Art and many more prestigious places.
At the end it would be best to sum up Prabha, as
one of her critic the late S.A. Krishnan remarked
that she is not a deaf painter, rather a painter who
happened to be disabled.
Her paintings are exhibited at Shridharani Gallery
from February 19.
- Avni Sood
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6:18:05 AM 
