Creating a storm in the world of art
By Amber Sodhi

FROM Chandigarh to New York, Tito moves easily. Symbolic of the truly contemporary Indian woman, Tito is a woman with immense style and confidence. The canvas is her language of communication. Tito brings alive nature in its various facets and in this way she opens doors to an optimism which underlies her works.

Jogesh Metge (popularly known as Tito) is a graduate from the Parson’s School of Design with a major in illustration. An artist of Indian origin, Tito is a global person. She spent early years of her childhood in Shimla, before coming down to the open spaces of Chandigarh. She finally set up home in New Zealand. However, she also lived in the Island of Tonga in the South Pacific for a while, and later New York where she still maintains a studio. Subtle influences of Iran and South East Asia are also reflected in her work. Her travels across the world find an echo in her art which has an international voice. Tito paints icons, murals and decorative furniture besides working as an illustrator and a commercial designer.

Tito’s forthcoming exhibition — the ‘Storm Series’ — which was held in New York in February 1999 is based on the different facets of a storm. These oil paintings have been done over a period of four years. "Since I am very environment oriented, ‘storms’ are a subject very close to my heart. Being an optimist, I perceive storms in all their beauty and vitality be they in the sea, sun, spring or rain. The idea of creation is very important for me. ‘Storms’ have a tremendous energy. For me they have been on a sub-conscious level, a point of forging ahead. The first canvas on a storm that I did was the "Sun Storm" which was a 4ft by 4ft, canvas. The experience was very exhilarating for me. The paintings are not static at all. The personification of the visual is in the shape of mythical Greek gods," says Tito.

Painting has been a passion for Tito ever since she can remember. She inherited her talent and received her initial training from her mother who was a painter. "I knew that I was always going to paint, as I grew up I had made up my mind never to give up painting because my mother had to give it up due to certain social and family obligations. I would paint on objects as varied as stones, bark and eggshells when I was a small child. Then I moved on to fabric painting and tie-and-dye before finally acquiring professional training", says Tito. After all the years of experience and occupation as a painter she tends to approach her canvas with joy. The flavour of ethnicity in most of her works was subtly imbibed through the influence of the Bengal School of Art which encouraged the artist to draw on the background.

The Indian figures of young girls and the highly stylised landscapes of earth and Indian colours, the backgrounds of ethnic buildings reflect a sense of homecoming and warmth to the viewer. "I do not wish to paint any thing that is not joyous and which does not bring a bit of life or happiness. I like to paint accompanied by music. If I don’t do that, the whole work and the feeling is different," says Tito. She mainly works at two levels. One level is the pure view of the surface picture and the second one is the layering or the concept behind it. Her works are not deliberately complicated.

Tito is very fond of using warm colours in her paintings. One sees the use of orange, rust and shades of yellow in her paintings. "I don’t like to use black in my paintings. It is too sombre which is not me at all and if I do use it, it is mixed with metallic and natural colours. I use a lot of acrylic with a mix of metallic in the under painting. My colours have been influenced by my stay in New Zealand to some extent. I picked up the use of turquoise while I was in New Zealand," says Tito.

Tito has been inspired by the art and miniature paintings of ancient India and Iran, and the works of Tedema, a British artist who depicted scenes from ancient Rome. She is a great admirer of Michael Angelo, Van Gogh, Picasso and other great Masters. "Art is the creativity in man, it is the necessary expression of inner feelings and it ought to be treated with honesty. I would advise all upcoming artists to be true to themselves and to do what their inner voice dictate to them. They should not abuse the gift of creativity. Using gimmicks in art is not the way to work", says Tito.

In her exhibition ‘Looking Through’ held at the Museum of Modern Art, Chandigarh in December 1998, Tito’s canvases displayed a variety of stylised landscapes which made the viewers stop and think. In a canvas "Windblown" the leaves were seen blowing in the direction opposite to the wind. "Mesmerized" was a painting on Manhattan, painted in Hisar, while "Feather" showed a single ray of hope coming through the window. According to Tito, "In my works there is always the under painting, the layering of shades and the colours. Sometimes, the painting ends as something completely different from where it started. My paintings are very spontaneous. I do not copy. Often the canvas dictates to me as to what it wants to be, and a picture starts forming in my mind, as it starts emerging from the under painting. Environmental influences are there but they are not sight-specific. I have particular concepts or themes for exhibition work. For commissioned work, I see the scenario and work accordingly".

With a record of diverse range of exhibitions in India and abroad Tito is also working towards a collection of icons which she plans to exhibit in the West Coast of America, or in New Zealand. She is at present illustrating her mother, Shan Gurdev Singh’s book of Punjabi folk songs translated into English. This is not the end for Tito. There is a lot she aspires to do, not only for herself but others as well. "In the long run, if I am fortunate, I want to open or be a part of some place where children can come and paint from any walk of life whether they are privileged or not. They should be able to walk in, pick up a brush and paint without hesitation," says Tito.