The Belgian artist Saskia Pintelon (b. 1945) has achieved considerable acclaim in Sri Lanka, where she has lived and produced work for over 40 years. Pintelon pursues a mixed-media practice, using a variety of techniques such as drawing, collage-making and stencilling to explore social and political realities and the human identity through her work. Pintelon’s first solo exhibition in India, Reflections: The Mirror and the Self, organised by Delhi-based gallery Pristine Contemporary in their debut show, was on view at the STIR Gallery from March 29 - April 9, 2024. STIR caught up with the artist at the preview on the evening of March 29, to discuss her practice, her articulation of various media and the influence that living in Sri Lanka has had on her artmaking.

Pintelon is a painter and collage artist who pursues a rigorous contemporary art practice, and her artmaking has not slowed down in the slightest with age. She works every day, at a pace so feverish that she herself does not remember each work in her sprawling oeuvre. With a touch of humour, she told STIR, “I work so much; sometimes I forget what I created the day before!” For example, Pintelon has been working on collage art recently, and when she looked through her old work, she was surprised to discover that she had worked in a similar vein in the past.

Pintelon’s works in the exhibition presented an interesting contrast in terms of scale: Her collages are smaller and seem cluttered in comparison to her larger canvases, which are texturally rich but more minimalist. What binds these two broad groups together are the browns and yellows that permeate the artist’s oeuvre. When read in relation to Pintelon’s focus on mass media, like her use of newspapers, these colours point to age and record-keeping. The news clippings and old photographs that the contemporary artist chooses for her collages become markers of the changing face of Sri Lankan society and polity. They reveal a great deal about the shifting tastes of the island nation’s citizenry through their headlines and passages, or through the consumer products that are referenced, for example. Pintelon is doing much more than exploring Sri Lankan identity through these materials. Many of her collages need not be read in a Sri Lankan context at all; they get to the heart of the human condition by presenting various perspectives on age-old human preoccupations such as death.

I work so much, sometimes I forget what I created the day before! – Saskia Pintelon, artist.

Pintelon and her husband Pierre Pringiers moved to Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, with Pringiers intending to set up an industrial tyre factory that has since become one of the most profitable businesses in the nation. Little did they know that this shift would take place right at the cusp of the brutal and prolonged civil war that has come to define the world’s understanding of Sri Lanka, given the island’s rich history. When asked how living in Sri Lanka has shaped her art, Pintelon expressed a heartfelt appreciation for the cultural vibrancy of the island, and indeed the rest of South Asia. She told STIR, “Living there has played a big part in my work. If you go to Europe...it's all the same story. But if you come to India [or Sri Lanka], it's unbelievable!”

Visitors to Reflections may have noticed what was perhaps the most interesting aspect of Pintelon’s work: Among the many newspaper cutouts, passport-sized photographs and found family photos that compose the works on view at the art exhibition, there was not a single clear image of a human face. Every single face had been drawn over, pencilled out or had otherwise been obscured in some manner. While this lends a haunting effect to Pintelon’s works, there is nothing sinister behind this choice. She explained her intentions, saying “If I use a photograph, I don't want people to know who it is. It is incognito.” Many of the photographs that she has used in her works are quite old, which suggests that some of their subjects have passed away. It would seem then that maintaining privacy is more of a principle for Pintelon than a decision made on a case-to-case basis. And she has found ways to integrate this principle into the striking visual language she has created through her practice.

Pristine Contemporary’s ‘Reflections: The Mirror and the Self’ was on view at the STIR Gallery from March 29 - April 9, 2024.