Body-scapes

When Steven Spielberg's movie Inner-space came out in 1987, we all were inspired by this micro-macro idea of going into body's interiors, and as young minds our imagination went wild. Once I saw an eerie science exhibition called 'Body Worlds' of real human dead-bodies as a whole and some specific body parts, embalmed, colored and shown in various poses, which became popular show some years ago. This show made me to imagine myself as a wanderer going through the inner valleys and mountains of a body. It was bit scary though, as out of body experiences can create fear sometimes. I remember when I was in Punjab, India, a very smart medical student in Chandigarh Medical College, had gone crazy after studying obsessively about each vein, artery and capillary in the body and later he had to go through therapy to come back.

Body based themes and ideas about skin as a metaphor are still prevalent in visual art. Certain performance art also is about going deeper into this subject. Speaking of skin, tattoo art is popular now as a part of urban tribalism. There are some masters in the field, I am sure. I have seen one German artist in a tatoo shop at Malibu beach, CA once. Of course he was very expensive, as the place is infested with Hollywood people.

I had a chance to do some detailed anatomy illustrations for a Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, years ago. Since then, the idea of 'body's inner forms' was staying dormant inside me as a workable thread. Recently I was able to see some electron-microscopic images and various source images as a part of my research. My interest is not medical at all. Of course it's not my area. It's rather about the psychological and the other deeper aesthetic layers of the visuals. Even if the usage of the word 'inner landscape' has become sort of a cliche´in art circles, as a theme, body awareness is still a relevant area to explore. Mind-body is a fascinating system because that is one domain where the visible meets the invisible.

Landscapes tell stories. Yet they are more than just anecdotes. Any terrain has its microcosmic anatomy as well as its macro-cosmic architecture. Historical events of a land, deposit remnants of memories between the layers of its soil. When excavations happen these relics reveal the past. Our body also has its inner terrain which is multidimensional in nature. When observed through an electron microscope for instance, the inner space of our body looks not very different from that of an underwater scene. On a micro level, our body is a colorful universe.

We think, talk and act according to our biochemistry and the thoughts and reactions also affect the total functioning of our body. The organs talk to each other using a complex communication system. They all have to function in a balanced way. Pollutants as well as nutrients enter the blood stream like ancient invaders in a landscape. It is impossible to live an impeccably clean life now without falling sick time to time. Medicines work like the corrective systems within a functional society. Body has to heal by itself as the medicines only help to create the enviorment. Biochemical secretions in the body can eventually transform our physical structure dramatically. Ability of the brain to rewire by itself is scientifically proven by now. Frequently fired neurons are wired together to form a pattern resulting in a particular conditioned behavior.

Our inner reflects our outer life we create and it gets fed back to us. We co-create our experiences by reacting and responding to all the variables that come along our way. The only constant aspect in this ever changing process is the phenomenon which is happening all the time, at once, in a nonlinear fashion.

Through the medium of visual art I believe, it makes sense to possibly attempt to integrate by juxtaposing the inner with the outer. This process could aesthetically be capable of bringing a new perspective of the wholesome experience about our own sense of self as a part of everything else.

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Two images above are from my watercolor series:- 'Body-scapes'