August

All That I Am (‘Pitha Ji’) 1993/4 45.1 x 64cm (17.75 x 25in) Poster color, gouache and gold dust on mount board Artist: Amrit K.D. Kaur Singh

On one level, ‘All That I Am’ is a personal tribute to the artist’s father.

It represents various episodes and achievements in his life - from birth in India and memories of childhood kite flying from the roof tops of Amritsar; his journey to Britain as a small child during the turmoil of Partition in 1947; his relatively poor upbringing in Manchester’s Ancoats (and work as a peddler) and finally, his struggle to achieve a respectable place in British society through self education and the formal study of medicine.

Interspersed within this chronology of events are reminders of the strong cultural roots which have not only remained with him but have come to bear influence on the life and work of his daughter. These include the ‘Mother India’ record, symbolizing the strong sense of morality, honor and duty within Indian tradition; the prayer book; wedding bangles; the family photograph (emphasizing belief in spiritual and community values); and the sitar, representing a love for and nurturing of Indian arts.

The painting reads as a narrative (starting top left) which comes full circle back to India, the ‘home land’ which, although left physically behind decades ago, remains for the subject ever-near in his thoughts, memories and dreams. Some elements within the composition (the cat and chick for example) were incorporated to reflect aspects of the subject’s personality in the same way that traditional Indian iconography uses specific objects to symbolize different attributes of the various deities within the Hindu pantheon.

Other features, such as the ‘King Kong’ image, relate to personal anecdotes in the life of the artist’s father which have come to mould her own personal development.

On another level the painting is an archetypal image of the ‘Asian success story’ in Britain, reflecting the pattern of development of many first and second generation Asians who, “through self sacrifice, self motivation and sheer determination, paved the way for a ‘better’ life for future generations of British born Asians”.