• News
  • Add Your Events
  • Support & Advertise
  • Contact Us

Logo

Navigation
  • Art News
  • Art Listings
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • Auctions
    • Workshops
    • Talks
    • Guided Tours
    • Festivals, Markets, Parties
    • Kids’ & Families’ Events
    • Performances
    • Film
    • Open Calls
  • Art Venues

The Call of Rasa

Aesthetic Awakening Columns
'Calling' by Mona Singhania, oil on canvas

‘Calling’ by Mona Singhania, oil on canvas

 

An ancient theory in Indian aesthetics provides a very palatable and down-to earth reasoning and discussion with regards to the inevitable experience of subjectivity in art appreciation. It is called the rasa theory. And it was enunciated by Bharathamuni (referred to as an Indian theatrologist-cum-musicologist) in his Natya Shastra (c. 2000 BC), which is essentially an authoritative treatise on dance and theatre.

The theory has been applied to the visual arts without difficulty, but with an imperative need for a hyper-creative imagination on the viewer’s part. Let me explain. Rasa is the ‘taste’ one receives from a work of art. To experience rasa is to feel a deep enjoyment that is due to and because of a work of art. Rasa is a vibration that comes from within – that enables a person to communicate with an artwork, regardless of any formal knowledge about the work or about specific nuances in art. To put it in a simple manner, the experience of rasa is as natural as the act of breathing. The pre-requisite is, to be human. Within this essence, there is a painting by Mona Singhania, a promising Singapore-based artist who was born and brought up in Badaun (Uttar Pradesh, India), that touches one’s innermost desire for and experience of what can be relatively-defined as freedom, a sense of release on a metaphysical level. Here, the focus is not aesthetic brilliance or profound technique of rendition. Instead, it is important to acknowledge that a painting is indeed fundamentally obliged to exude something beyond all cliched physical properties and formal expectations.

Mona Singhania

Mona Singhania

Utsaha, or emotive energy in Sanskrit, plays a key role in the experience of rasa. Energy is inherent in the work of art, as much as it is in the viewer. The viewer has to be able to exude his/her own utsaha, a sensitive involvement towards a work of art. When this communication is successful, the rasa experience is born. And the rasa experience of every individual viewer is absolutely different. Mona’s painting, an oil-on-canvas titled ‘Calling’, portrays an almost androgynous, stylised figure that forthrightly encompasses the entire artwork, implying a highly-poignant, an utterly-emotional and an absolutely-climacteric soliloquy directed at the ever-mighty universe. The figure is in the midst of nothing but ether, so immaculately indicating the feeling of elevation that one might come to terms with through meditation; when the mind is amazingly quiet and receptive of constructive silence. As a contrast to the neutrality in the figure’s facial expression, the outstretched arms so perceptibly complete the narrative of the painting, the unmistakable narrative of gratifying surrender, the wholehearted relinquishment of the heart to the whims of the universe.

“That rasa is what art is all about may not be specifically stated in so many words by everyone, but in a very real sense, it is what a viewer is looking for in a work of art.”

This succinct statement by B.N. Goswamy, in his book entitled ‘Essence of Indian Art’, reinforces the persistency of a subtle yet profound mode of communication that one can encounter with an artwork; whereby the subjective notion of sheer physical beauty attains a state of meaninglessness as it allows the dominance of formless vibrations. Mona’s ‘Calling’, in all its simplicity, calls for nothing but great vibrations.

To view artworks by Mona Singhania email Gnani Arts at gnani_arts@yahoo.com.sg, or call 6735 3550.

Written by Vidhya Gnana Gouresan

Share this story:
  • tweet

Comments are closed.

Art Calendar

SAGG on Facebook

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

3 days 3 hours ago

theindependent.sg/national-gallery-singapore-reveals-untold-legacy-of-asian-artists-in-modern-art/

National Gallery Singapore reveals untold legacy of Asian artists in modern art - Singapore News

This new art show tells the story of Asian artists in 1920s Paris that most people have never heard.

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

3 days 3 hours ago

thesmartlocal.com/read/retro-places-singapore/

14 Retro Places In Singapore To Feel Like You've Travelled Back In Time

Retro's back in fashion, so here's a list of 14 retro places in Singapore you can go to to immerse yourself in an old-school charm.

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 weeks 1 day ago

www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/arts-design/national-gallery-singapores-ink-show-ambitious-unsatisfying

National Gallery Singapore’s ink show is ambitious – but unsatisfying

[SINGAPORE] National Gallery Singapore’s new ink exhibition sets out with an ambitious goal: to show ink not as a fixed tradition but as a living, changing language shaped by calligraphers, poets, abstractionists and experimental artists over time and across cultures. Read more at The Business Tim...

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 weeks 6 days ago

www.littledayout.com/ocean-diving-into-the-unknown-exhibition-alliance-francaise-singapore/

Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown At Alliance Française Singapore

Take a dive into the blue world at Alliance Française’s latest exhibition, Ocean: Diving into the Unknown. A collaboration with the French National Museum of

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

4 weeks 1 day ago

www.eco-business.com/press-releases/uob-partners-sg-eco-fund-to-bring-sustainability-and-art-to-the-community/

UOB partners SG Eco Fund to bring sustainability and art to the community

UOB, one of Singapore’s leading banks, and the SG Eco Fund have announced a two-year partnership to drive greater community awareness of sustainability and art.

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 6 days ago

www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/eight-singapore-indie-booksellers-launch-bookshop-sg-as-amazon-alternative

Eight Singapore indie booksellers launch Bookshop.sg as Amazon alternative

The online store, which launches on May 14, describes itself as an act of "radical cooperation". Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 1 week ago

www.asiaone.com/singapore/over-50k-gold-coins-cash-stolen-veteran-artist-koeh-sia-yongs-home-while-he-was-bali

Over $50k in gold coins, cash stolen from veteran artist Koeh Sia Yong's home while he was in Bali

SINGAPORE — While veteran Singaporean artist Koeh Sia Yong was away in Indonesia for nearly two months earlier in 2025, his bedroom drawers back home were emptied of more than $50,000 in valuables. The 87-year-old returned to his two-bedroom unit at The Interlace condo in Depot Road on March 15 to...

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 1 week ago

danamic.org/2025/05/11/order-is-essential-what-we-learnt-about-fernando-zobel-at-his-national-gallery-exhibit/

Order is Essential: What We Learnt about Fernando Zóbel at his National Gallery Exhibit

Come learn with us about the life, thoughts and works of Fernando Zóbel in a truly transcontinental exhibition that's open right now!

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 3 weeks ago

www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/arts-design/how-one-man-made-nude-art-possible-singapore

How one man made nude art possible in Singapore

Yeo Workshop celebrates the legacy of Solamalay Namasivayam, who fought for nude figure drawing when it was still considered 'indecent'. Today, nude figure drawing is a cornerstone of artist training in Singapore Read more at The Business Times.

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 months 2 weeks ago

www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/lifestyle/robert-zhao-hong-kong-art-week

Robert Zhao Might Be One Of The Best Singaporean Artists That You’ve Never Heard Of, Until Now

We caught up with the creative mastermind behind CHARLES & KEITH’s latest Artist In Residence project.

2
View on Facebook
Share
  • News
  • Add Your Events
  • Support & Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
© 2020. Singapore Art & Gallery Guide
We use cookies that are necessary for the website's functions. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkNoRead more