ART ON TRUCKS
'Temples Within'
2011
Oil on Canvas
3' x 4'
About the Series
"Saigal’s inspiration started with something unusual - a heavily decorated truck typically found in the frontier borders of India. When she first came across these majestic vehicles she saw something more than just whimsically decorated carriers of goods. About this experience, she says, “As I delved more into the elaborate imagery of this indigenous art form, a deeper understanding of perhaps what fascinates me started to surface. A truck driver carries on his duty as he travels through long arduous terrains. His vehicle of work also becomes his vehicle of life. There is therefore an intense desire to uplift his spirits through Art, and the beauty that it brings”. This need to celebrate our lives through beauty is universal. As physical bodies travel through the human dimension of time our various life experiences get imprinted on our consciousness, just like the decorations on those vehicles. Saigal chronicles the unique journey of our extra-ordinary human lives in a visual language, which goes far beyond the apparent decorative aesthetics of ''truck art'."
'The visual metaphor for the Art on Trucks series was originally inspired from an image of multi-colored trucks found on Indian borders. The use of art by truck drivers to beautify their vehicles, which are their source of livelihood and pride, despite their rough lifestyles and mean incomes, inspired in her a sense of awe, culminating in the work Temples Within. Art, subsequently, became a means to celebrate the beauty of life and the resilience of the human spirit. The personification of the truck, subsequently, led to the creation of works that drew parallels between the vehicle as a carrier of goods and the human body as a carrier of life’s different roles and experiences. In the works Bride, Chameli, Mr Chameli, Tipsy Groom, Maharani and several others, the visual metaphor constantly transforms, dawning a distinctive personality for each of life’s different roles.
Saigal’s sustained relationship with the imagery of a truck continues in the Absence of Light series where she thrusts the vehicle in darkness forcing it to find its strength. The works Beasts of Burden I and II compare the role of the truck as a carrier to the human body that, like the former, has to bear and carry the burden of several of life’s experiences which take it on a roller-coaster journey. Self-Weight is another such work that draws a comparison between a carrier, whether a truck or a human, and an elephant, each of them carrying not just their own weight but also the weight of other things. The work is a silent acknowledgement of this substantial role. Even still, while some may bear the load silently, other’s rebel to survive as seen in works like Stinger, Fireflies, Metamorphosis and Ascent. While darkness can poison and drown some, as in the case of Stinger, in others it can catalyze the inner search for fortitude to develop wings and shine through. The latter works, then, are an expression of the victories one achieves after intense struggles.'