Aik
Unless you pass through here
You will never reach the beyond
Free yourself from worldly bond
Doubtless clear, to you appear.
You will never reach the beyond
Free yourself from worldly bond
Doubtless clear, to you appear.
(Divan-e-Shams)
Arjun
Saluja’s chevron of androgyny, his continuing exploration of oneness -the unity
of the opposing and the complementary – finds its way to 'Aik'. A journey to a
simplistic truth in a complex reality, a minimal space in a maximal cosmos.
In ‘No
Ground Beneath My feet’ (Fall-Win 2012) he explored the multiplicity of the
social self and the adoption of opposing traits for survival. ‘I am the sum
total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen, done, of
everything done-to-me. I
am the hybrid born of a myriad faces and experiences. An amalgamation of
customs and cultures’. (Rushdie)
‘Two
equals ONE’ (Spring-Summer 2013) explored sexuality via the paradoxical or compatible union of the
male/female selves. Identity, call it androgyny; yin-yang or ‘ardhanareshwar’,
and the beauty within that identity have always played the central theme in
Saluja’s aesthetic. “Woman
and man are words other people use, not me,” says Jeet Thayil’s Dimple and
the protagonist of Saluja’s collection “I’m not sure what I am. Some days
I’m neither, or I’m nothing. On other days I feel I’m both… I know how they
yearn to make two equal one and I know it can never be.”
Saluja
inquiry into the concept of ONE – the unity of the opposing and complementary,
perhaps finds its destination in ‘Aik’.
Seeking that unity which lies hidden beneath veils of multiplicity, this one is
a journey of the spirit. Complexity (the exaggerated maximal reality) and simplicity (the serene minimal
truth) are regarded as two extremes of one spectrum. One is referred to as unity. One is the first
non-zero number as well as the first odd number.
Any number multiplied by one is that number, as one is the identity for multiplication. One
is its own factorial, its
own square, its
own cube. One
is also the empty, as
any number multiplied by one is itself.
In 'Aik'
Saluja's search for One reality leads him to a collection in which multiplicity
is explored via the motifs, print, layering and beading but is unified in
simplistic, clean even monastic silhouettes. Employing the square and cube as
his guides, Arjun's explores a cutting technique that is linear and defined.
Wool, georgette, cotton, tweed silks and self plaids play the role of 'shell'
fabrics that contain the 'duality' of contrast linings, concealed zippers and
buttons.
The print
motif and beading take inspiration from the geometry of Azerbaijan rugs,
Turkey’s kilims and Gelims - the necessary meager belongings of the eastern
mystic who continues his journeys in search of Oneness/nothingness.
