Skip to content

Art is a Lonely Business

Thoughts from the Studio

Gulammohammed Sheikh

Art is a lonely business: you often make paintings or drawings in solitude. At times, being left alone leaves you with the quietude you need to sort out problems you’ve been struggling with. The self-isolation imposed upon us these days is, however, different. You cannot drive away the images of the thousands of your daily wage-earning brethren trudging along a lonely road home.

Contributing to activist groups that help these lonely souls brings in a little comfort but it does not leave you without the guilt of being helpless. These days we are totally indoors. Meanwhile, I try to make some drawings or small works as the big studio is closed — assistants having left for their homes.

This is part of a series called ‘Thoughts from the Studio’ initiated by the Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi. Published here in collaboration with the gallery.

Gulammohammed Sheikh (born 1937) is a painter, poet and art critic from Gujarat. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1983 and the Padmabhushan in 2014 for his contribution to the field of art.