There is always something special about trees. Entwined with the mythologies of every civilisation, trees have outlived humans by hundreds of years and stand for continuity, security, strength, stability, community, wisdom and generosity. But the indiscriminate deforestation of flora has affected us with severe climatic alterations and is now a threat to humanity. As the world celebrates April as Earth Month, Ompal Sansanwal, after a hiatus of 15 years, came out with his first solo exhibition on paintings of trees and nature.

The exhibition, titled ‘Jiva’, showcased the national award-winning artist’s works crafted over the past 15 years with acrylic, pen, and ink on canvas and paper. Curated by noted art historian and scholar Uma Nair, and hosted by Sanya Malik’s Black Cube Gallery, the week-long exhibition opened on 27 April, and will go till 3 May, at Bikaner House in the Main Art Gallery.

Born in 1964, Ompal Sansanwal, an alumnus of Delhi College of Art, was the recipient of the National Award in 2002 and the 1991 All India Award, by the Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy. Ompal’s paintings move from solitary studies of the roots and branches of the trees, to collective groups that take on different shapes, telling the story of Krishna holding aloft the Govardhan hill, or Christ’s Last Supper, or of Shiva and Parvati’s wedding, or even the Kurukshetra war with the Pandavas and Kauravas facing off. The paintings, done in ochre, sienna or shades of blue, are meditative in nature, and bear the artist’s trademark style where the long, intertwining roots and branches take on a human form and almost seem to speak.

“When I draw the trees, they come out in a meditative form”, says Ompal. His works have been featured in several solo exhibitions previously, including at the Museum Gallery, Mumbai; LTG Gallery, New Delhi, and Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi, as well as in group shows held at the Nehru Center in London, and in Yugoslavia.

Sanya Malik of Black Cube Gallery says, “Ompal Sansanwal’s captivating oeuvre intricately weaves the profound narrative of humanity’s symbiotic bond with nature, with an emphasis on the primordial significance of trees and roots as the cradle of existence”.

Explaining his long break from the world of solo exhibitions, Ompal says, “I was preparing for the last 15 years for my ‘Jiva’ show”.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ratish Nanda, a renowned Indian conservation architect and CEO of Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) who also launched Sansanwal’s book, Meditations on Trees, authored by curator Uma Nair.