Shared Individualism

By V Radhika Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh are identical twins that is genetically ordained.

Their identical clothes, accessories, footwear and paintings under a common signature, however, make a strong political point.

The twins, as they are known in the art world, have won much critical acclaim for their revival of the ancient Indian art of miniature paintings and the contemporary use they have made of the technique.

Besides exquisite and intricate artwork, their paintings are marked by a humorous take on present-day society.

Their common identity is part of this critique of society.

It is, they say, an attempt to question the western ideal of 'individuality' and a reaction to the prejudices they encountered as they were growing up in England.

"It really hit us in college.

We were doing similar work and, therefore, they thought we were suppressing our individuality," says Rabindra.

"The purpose of being an artist, we were told, is to express individuality.

In our class, people were churning out clones of European artists, while we were trying to do miniature paintings.

Yet we were the ones accused of not being individual enough.

Our paintings were similar because we had the same inspiration," Amrit adds.

Besides, they say, it is both ironical and hypocritical to speak of individuality in a world where the fashion and advertising industries are creating clones everywhere.

"Therefore, we started dressing alike.

That was our choice," they declare.

Refuting the dominant worldview that looks through the western consumerist prism, the twins paint a running commentary, part satirical and part serious, on contemporary issues.

While they remain technically faithful to the miniature style, modern elements like transistor radios, football matches, buses and cars, picnics and parties as well as contemporary icons like Princess Diana, Mother Teresa and Madonna are recurring motifs.

"By using an old language to say new things, we are trying to reach out and tell people that there is much beyond what western civilisation has to offer," Rabindra explains.

The twins were appointed 'Artists in Residence' at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester last year.

The resultant series looked at the changing attitudes to sports.

"The sports pitch is now a sales pitch, which has transformed the humble sportsman into a universal hero and icon." From images that depict the Beckhams as the 'New Royal Family' and Venus Williams as the new Naomi Campbell to those that comment on the politics of sport (for example, a comic representation of a World Cup match as a replay of past military conflicts), the series offers a multi-layered interpretation of the wider issues surrounding the sports celebrity-media phenomena.

Their latest exhibition (comprising their entire repertoire of 70 paintings), which toured India and will now make its way to the North Americas, is titled 'Past-Modern Miniatures'.

The title, says Amrit, is actually a dig at the idea of tradition and modernism.

Rabindra adds, "We are trying to say that modernism is actually built on tradition.

What is perceived as modern today will be tradition tomorrow." Amrit and Rabindra are proud of their Asian heritage (they wear only Indian clothes).

They were introduced to the world of miniature paintings at Delhi's National Museum during their first trip to India.

The attention to detail, technical skill, narrative and symbols captivated them and they set about teaching themselves the technique of miniature painting.

"We bought a book from India, which was our bible.

We would take photographs and blow them up to see the strokes and copy them," they say.

Passionate as they were about miniature painting, the sisters had meant to take it up as a hobby.

They had intended to pursue a career in medicine.

Voice laced with bitterness, Rabindra recalls: "Our art teachers thought our parents were forcing us to study medicine and wrote so in their letters to medical schools.

Naturally, we did not get admission." They then enrolled at the University of Liverpool for a degree in comparative religion, with contemporary art history as one of the subjects.

Amrit recalls, "Our tutors saw us as copying one another.

But we were challenging the pressure to be individualistic and paint differently.

Also, the fact that we were working on paintings rooted in eastern cultural aesthetics was an unacceptable proposition in the western art circuit." Adds Rabindra: "We even compromised our style a bit by changing to more realistic colours, but it was still unacceptable." Next, they enrolled for a Ph.D.

in Sikh art at Manchester University with Rabindra specialising in scriptural manuscripts and miniatures and Amrit concentrating on popular calendar imagery.

However, they had to give it up after two years of research because their guide quit and the university could not find a replacement.

By now, though, art had become a full-time occupation for the twins.

They held their first exhibition in 1994.

They say they are inspired by art nouveau (the decorative period of art that began in France), Japanese paintings, William Blake and, of course, the various schools of Indian miniature painting - from Mughal to Pahari, Rajasthani and Pattachitra.

Their experience as British Asians, their cultural identity and social and political issues of global significance are equally powerful influences on their work.

Painting for them is a tool of communication.

They say, "We want to make our work universal, so it can be read on different levels." That explains the use of symbols that convey different meanings in different cultures.

A painting of Princess Diana on a white elephant is an example.

The white elephant connotes compassion in Buddhism (a value Diana was known for); in Britain, though, it denotes wasteful expenditure (which the monarchy is accused of).

"We wanted both symbols in one image," says Amrit.

They are currently working on the Iraq war.

The twins have written a book, 'Images of Freedom', and have themselves been the subject of a film, 'Alone Together', which won the top award at the Asolo International Festival of Art Films in 2001.

Their long-term plans include having their own gallery and a resource centre for artists engaged in similar work.