Divyaman Singh’s Delhi exhibition explores memory, solitude, and light
His recently concluded solo show, Light as Creation, journeys from the forests of Bihar to the waves of the sea
Artist Divyaman Singh’s recently concluded solo exhibition in Delhi, ‘Light as Creation’, presented a contemplative body of work exploring light, land, and solitude. Curatorial advisor Uma Nair describes his works as “pages of the earth,” emphasising their ability to draw viewers into an intimate meditation on truth and transcendence.
A resident of Chaugain village in Bihar’s Buxar district, Singh draws deeply from memory. His paintings mirror the forests and mountains of his childhood, which he considers his truest source of inspiration. “The memories you carry from growing up in such a serene and earthy environment stay with you forever, even if you drift to a city. When I paint, it all emerges on the canvas in a semi-abstract form,” he explains.
Working primarily with oil on canvas, Singh employs an intuitive process that often involves bare hands, palette knives, linen cloth, and brushes to build richly textured surfaces. His restrained palette frequently hinges on two dominant hues, as seen in his ‘Waves and the Blue’ series.
In a particular work, he envisions the sea as a meeting point of body and spirit—a visual poetry of existence. With shades of ultramarine, burnt sienna, muddy browns, and radiant oranges, his canvases radiate from within, suggesting that light is both subject and source.
In another, ocean blue captures waves and ripples, while shades of yellows and greens evoke tides shifting in mood and intensity. “When I was making these seas and waves, I was searching for peace and tranquility, alongside the depth and fragility of life. Ultramarine blues became my way of expressing those emotions,” Singh says.
Trees—often solitary, barren, or leafless—emerge as another recurring motif. Choosing to depict lifelessness in nature was deliberate, Singh notes: “My heart chose to paint trees with arboreal reflections that have witnessed civilisations across time. They carry experience, pain, sorrow, depth, and happiness too—each with a story to tell. Their state of being reflects the state of the environment, both past and present.”
Having exhibited widely in India and abroad, with solo and group shows in New Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai, and Milan, Singh calls art a “necessity” in his life. “A necessity I cannot live without. It gives me immense freedom to express—and the journey has only just begun,” he says.
