Investigation of Transparency and the Impact of Indian Visual Culture on the Paintings of Self-taught Artist “Teju Ben

A self-taught artist creates works away from cultural and educational pressures and their works are free from complex techniques. These works are considered a quick reaction of their creators' spirit and a perfect example of artistic originality; because of that in recent decades, self-taught art has been noticed in the Art world. The wonder of self-taught artists' paintings is that they are both unique and very similar at the same time. Therefore, many of their structural characteristics and values are common. On the other hand, part of the uniqueness of individual characters is caused by the indirect recognition of the culture that leads to diverse themes and forms in these works. Teju Ben is a self-taught Indian artist whose paintings are similar to other self-taught painters in terms of simplicity expression, and at the same time, they also have differences that make them unique. One of the common structural features in the works of self-taught artists is "transparency", which manifests in different ways. On the other hand, it seems that environmental and cultural influences have a significant role in the diversity of these works. This research aims to investigate how transparency and Indian visual culture appear in Teju Ben's paintings. The questions are: "In what ways has transparency been manifested in Teju Ben's paintings?", and "How the Indian visual culture has influenced Teju Ben's paintings?". This study is a qualitative research that has been done by the descriptive-analytical method. Its information has been collected by the library method and observational tool. Finally, the questions were answered in a qualitative way by analyzing the collected information and describing some works of Tajo Ben. Self-taught art can be considered "Raw Art" or "Outsider Art". "This art is different from folk art, which is created based on traditions and in relation to the culture of the society, and from simple painterly art, because it is original and spontaneous" (Benedetti, 2008: 113-114). And "most of these artists have created such works incognizant of the Western art’s well-known basic form and logic" (Cardinal, 1972: 55). "The self-taught artist is not described in terms such as psychopathology or unbridled creativity, instead they are recognized as "ordinary human beings" who depict culture from a unique perspective." (Russell, 2011:19). Imitation or re-creation has little role in these works and their creators depict everything. The subjects, choice of materials and ways of transmission, rhythm, method of execution, etc., are completely personal and do not borrow from any artistic tradition, whether classical or contemporary art (Dubuffet, 1973). Studying the biographies and works of these artists shows many commonalities that can be considered as characteristics of self-taught artists. These features include: They have not been educated in any kind of art, by any means, neither class nor books or movies. They have never had a predetermined plan to become an artist and they have no desire to be called one. They usually start creating artwork at an advanced age, and after an unfortunate and shocking event that happened to them. After making artwork, they realize that it helps to feel better. Not the result of the work, but The process of creation is important for them. Canvas is not a necessary tool, because their materials and tools are always available for them, such as boards, cardboard, paper, boxes, and walls. Usually, these people keep their work hidden, it has even been seen in some cases that they destroy their work after finishing. Self-taught artists are accidentally discovered and introduced by another person who is usually a trained artist.   Transparency is one of the most interesting common features between children's and self-taught paintings, which represents everything they are aware of, even if they are not visible. Freeman and Janikoun (1972) in their research on children's drawings point to two types of Transparency. The first one is depicting things that exist, but cannot be seen, and the second is that shapes are not hidden behind each other. There is a distinct type of dealing with the subject in the paintings of self-taught artist, where he/she simultaneously depicts the outside and inside of persons and objects. This is similar to the children's drawing, which is called transparency or X-ray. Of course, transparency is not only limited to showing the internal contents but also includes all parts of the image, so that the different and hidden parts are drawn completely. Transparency is the result of drawing shapes and subjects by the mind. A similar vision can be seen in traditional Indian paintings. Transparency is a fundamental element in all of Teju’s paintings and the structure of her drawings remains the same, regardless of the tools she uses. In her works, both types of transparency can be seen. She draws inside and outside of houses at the same time, and nothing is hidden from vision.  Not to comply perspective rules and the integrated view are manifestations of transparency, which puts all the existing elements in front of the viewer's eyes. The unique, powerful, and stimulating works of Tajo Ben express the innate human desire of creating. Teju often portrays herself in her works and takes direct inspiration from things around her, like home, children, and even Hindu thoughts. The system of vision, the structure of the mind, matters related to the social environment, family conditions, growth, and even inheritance play a decisive role in forming the final artwork. The mental activity of the artist does not end here, throughout the creation of the artwork, he/she continues him/her active and creative movement. With every new event that occurs in the process of creating the work, he/she thinks of a new plan that is in sync with each other. The objective manifestations provide the necessary coordination and synchronicity and do not neglect the activity, discovery, and finding the appropriate and coordinated solution until obtaining the necessary result that satisfies (Shamili and Kateb, 2018). The effects of visual culture in Teju's works are very diverse, from the type of patterns on Indian fabrics and the shape of clothes to religious symbols, folk heroes, the rhythm of rural life, and impressions of the past that they have understood with their existence. All of them are present everywhere in her paintings and drawings and they are complex factors that have shaped her cultural identity and visual vision. The presence of gods and their role in the life of Hindus is very important, and a huge part of Indian religious art is devoted to the embodiment of these gods. Surely, religious statues and images impress Teju's mind, so in her paintings, popular Hindu gods have been depicted with a personal perspective. The signs and effects of Indian visual culture in Teju's works are not limited to religious forms. Everything in the culture and geography of India where Teju's life has formed, are considered signs of visual culture, including Houses and vehicles. The visual culture of India is full of small and large patterns that cover entire surfaces, from fabric patterns to traditional paintings, where there is hardly any empty space. This filling of surfaces, which has a decorative aspect, is truly visible in Teju's works. She fills the entire surface of her works with patterns and punctuation. This makes the parts that have been kept white and plain, not to be considered as an empty or negative space, but they are full of energy, and also show specific forms. Teju Ben's works are derived from her deep insight to the surrounding world and the events she has experienced in her life. Similar to other self-taught artists, due to her lack of awareness of the laws of depth perception and mental attention to the subject, she naturally and intuitively uses methods for drawing shapes and composition. Transparency in her paintings is the result of such a function, which is why when the outside and the inside of the house are important to her, she draws both at the same time, and all the shapes are clearly seen. She draws what is closer on the bottom and what is further away, on the top of the page, without blocking each other, and in this way, she makes the best use of the two-dimensional paper space and gives a complete view of the event. She puts her sight in front of the audience's eyes. Therefore, in her works, there are two types of transparency, inner and stepped. The conducted studies show that Indian visual culture has had an undeniable impact on her works and given them a special identity. From dotted decorations to images of Hindu gods or women astronauts and buildings and trains, all are reasons to prove that the environment, customs, and everything that the self-taught artist, Teju Ben, lives in that, appears in her works.