| VEILED SPLENDOR journey through India and Nepal paintings and words by Jill Karlin Butler |
| When Jill Karlin journeyed to India four years ago, she hadn't anticipated that her practice of meditation, postures and breath control would transform her artistry into the yoga of brushes, pigment, and canvas. Her transition was a natural act, for she possesses an inate understanding of how color schemes influence the viewer. This is a principle which ranks paramount among the cognitions of the ancient Indian philosophers and artists. The ancient rishis understood that particular colour combinations will affect our moods.Everyone knows how certain colours make us warm, while others keep us cool. Some excite us, and others calm us down. Jill Karlin's use of colour weaves a contrasting tapestry of warm and cool, exciting and calming shades. Her works allow us to traverse a rich spectrum of emotions simultaneously, just as a pond is warm on the surface, yet coolat the depths. Her paintings are alive with an innocent, childlike quality, which somehow breathes the mystery, adventure and romance of the Indian spirit. Her lines move as her figures move to tell the everyday story of Indian culture which we see yet never really notice. This you will see for yourself. RODNEY CHARLES Director The American Gallery of Vedic Art February 1992 |
Thanks to Biki Oberoi
and Mirja Jojic
patrons and lovers of
fine art. who support
my expression
and Mirja Jojic
patrons and lovers of
fine art. who support
my expression
This is a site of selected
images from the exhibition
of paintings presented by
Oberoi Hotels
International, New Delhi,
India,
images from the exhibition
of paintings presented by
Oberoi Hotels
International, New Delhi,
India,
Special thanks to Onnie
Kahlenberg, who worked
tirelessly to produce the
most splendid borders in
time for the exhibition
Kahlenberg, who worked
tirelessly to produce the
most splendid borders in
time for the exhibition
| I was introduced to Jill by mutual friends. (Isn't that how people almost always meet?) That was several years ago, during one of her visits to India. She was still undecided then about what drew her to this country. Was it yoga, at which she was already adept? or the ever-changing, incredibly rich and varied visual feast of India's colours, textures, people, her stunning skies, sunsets and landscapes, and the relics of her long history? It became gradually clear to her that these, indeed, were the elements which exercised such a magnetic hold over her. As a painter she quite naturally wanted to interpret her involvement with this timeless and wondrous legacy of India through her paintings. And she wanted to do it with integrity. Without romanticing what she saw and experienced. Without burdening her work with an emotional and sensory overload. But how? The path she chose is what these paintings are about. They are her response to the unforgettable images she saw during her travels; to the moods they created; the warm feelings they evoked in her, the lasting impression they left on her mind. She was not looking for perfect compositions. Nor wished to strive for them. Her endeavour was to express what she felt, not just saw. She wanted to communicate the warmth she had experienced. To tell through each painting why she was drawn, at that magical moment, to a particular vignette of India. The ultimate measure of her creativity will be the extent to which her paintings strike a responsive cord in people who have been where she has been, and who were bewitched, as she was, by the beauty of what they saw. I believe her paintings transcend the realistic;the literary and the illustrative. They are suffused with feelings which are expected, but seldom found, in works which favour more identifiable images. It is not possible to fit her portrayal of the magic of India, and her people, into any known art classification. Nor is it necessary. Her paintings make their own statement more sensitively and convincingly than any academic exercise could. Patwant Singh Author |
| In 1989 Jill Andrea Karlin travelled to India and Nepal for the first time. originally she went to practice yoga with BKS Iyengar, but instead of staying at The Institute, she travelled more extensively than she had planned. Jill spent nearly six months, absorbing and recording this incredible culture the way she knew to do, through her art. Gavin Douglas, her dear friend provided and introduction to PRS Oberoi, and Biki immediately upon viewing Jill's art arranged an exhibition. She returned for two subsequent visits, one of which was the exhibition of 108 works by the artist. Praised by the cognoscenti and Indian press, Jill has turned the catalogue of this exhibition into an exclusive set, with text and paintings. Each copy is hand produced by the artist and contains a unique set of 12 prints selected by the artist along with text. Each original giclee print no larger than 18"x24" is signed by the artist on canvas and arches watercolor paper for $10,800. Each original giclee of the images you see here is available on canvas 22"x30" signed for $777 . |
| Thank you for journeying with me through my art to these magical places. Jill Karlin Butler |
The Monkey Temple
Swayambonath,
Kathmandu, Nepal
18"x24" gouache on
paper
Swayambonath,
Kathmandu, Nepal
18"x24" gouache on
paper
Chandra With
Peas oils on
canvas 22"x30"
Peas oils on
canvas 22"x30"
Amber Fort
oils on board 3'x6' $23,777
for original
giclee original on canvas
$777
oils on board 3'x6' $23,777
for original
giclee original on canvas
$777
Wedding
Rajasthan
oils on
canvas
original
owned by
Biki Oberoi
giclee
original $777
Rajasthan
oils on
canvas
original
owned by
Biki Oberoi
giclee
original $777
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