Tao of Science, Art and Spirituality!

An evening at Mumbai’s Tao Art Gallery lit up with twilight from the sunset on the seashore nearby, and a universe of fascinating images lit up with creative imagination! Art lovers, art critics, and artists enjoying a conversation while they engage deeply with those images. This was the scene on 23^rd June at the grand preview of a unique photography exhibition by Pune based industrialist-turned-artist Shrinivas Gadre, ‘Infinitesimal to Infinite’ – A show of ‘Stone Stories’. Sanjana Shah, the Creative Director at Tao Art Gallery says, “As a curator it’s been a long time since I’ve come across such an interesting medium in photography! Unfortunately, photography has always been relegated to something that is easily done, technique wise. Shrinivas Gadre changes this perception with the nuance in which he captures such intricate beauty.”

Uniqueness of this exhibition is multifold. Firstly, these photographs printed on canvas seem like hand painted abstract and landscape paintings, even though actually they are interior views of stone slices. Secondly, the photographs are taken not just with a camera but through a powerful microscope. A scientific equipment such as a microscope has been utilized as an artistic lens that reveals the unseen interior beauty in stones. It is hard to believe that something as beautiful as this might be revealed from inside of stones that may have looked ordinary to the naked eye. Truly, there is a new universe that resides within these stones, that is revealed by the artist through a combination of his painstaking process and artistic vision. The most unique characteristic of this body of work is that it transcends the boundaries of science, art and spirituality. The confluence of this triad proves to be the true ‘Tao’ – The absolute principle underlying the universe, as defined by Chinese philosophy.

In this context, the enthusiasts of science and spiritual mysticism would reminisce Fritjof Capra’s classic book ‘Tao of Physics’ which explored the parallels between modern physics and the Eastern mysticism. At this point though, the artistically inspired and spiritually aware student of science in me started humming John Boswell’s song ‘We Are Star Dust’ from his album ‘Symphony of Science’*. It goes like this…

“Every atom in your body

Came from a star that exploded…

You are all star dust

From a star that exploded…

We are star dust

In the highest exalted way…

Called by the universe

Reaching out to the universe…”

Yes, we are all stardust! And we ARE the universe, reaching out to the universe. When we look at the night sky, we are looking into ourselves. Our consciousness spreads from the infinitesimal atoms to the infinite vastness of the universe. This is the absolute reality with no boundaries, neither to existence nor to the ability to visualize beauty within existence. Blessed are those who have an evolved creative eye to notice such beautiful and deep truth. Shrinivas Gadre is one of them. He has a special eye for aesthetic beauty which he can spot even in unorthodox art objects such as stones and rocks. His first solo exhibition at the Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai, ‘Stone stories – Infinitesimal to Infinite’ is a mind exalting body of work, unique in many ways.

Here, professional photography is aided with a powerful microscope, which looks deeply into the slices of stones to reveal their inner world. This is a refreshing approach as it pushes the boundaries of both photography and cutting-edge science, for artistic exploration. The technique developed by Gadre begins to seem a lot simpler once explained by him through his explainer video and the innovative microscopic assembly fitted with a camera, which are being presented at the exhibition. Stones from a place named Khambata in Gujrat are collected, cleaned, and finely sliced. The slices are polished before observing them under the microscope. A powerful light is passed through them to reveal the intricate inner structures. Till such a time, the stones are silent but then suddenly they start revealing their stories. As Gadre likes to put it, these stories of the unknown past are laid out by nature, and his endeavor is to discover them. There is so much happening in these stories that there is no need to paint or imagine anything separately.

Shrinivas Gadre has been into landscape photography for the past decade, as member of a photography club in Pune. However, it was the passionate side of his technocrat mind that led him to craft his own technique for microscopic photography. While sharing about his artistic journey, Gadre reveals some of the inspirations and influences that he had. These include Micheal Riechman’s vlog on aesthetic photography and ‘Within the stone’ – a book by Bill Atkinson, which introduced Gadre to the concept of stone art.

Some of the images here liken the natural landscapes, wherein one can witness the depth of a forest, some resemble a sunrise, or a sunset, some evoke human-like figures full of emotions while some pulsating fiery abstract forms reminisce passions of human life, while many other abstract forms defy any definition, and some images suggest mildly identifiable figures that one can relate with personally.

With all this and more, almost a universe is crystallized into the narrow millimeters of the stone slices. Gadre calls this ‘Abstracted Reality’ even though many viewers may be tempted to name it as abstract. This is a point where he begins to relate the images from stones to the reality of human life. In that way, the ‘Stone Stories’ become the stories of the humans who are witnessing them. This is a powerful quality of abstraction that has been ingrained in these photographs. Each one is relatable at personal level yet can be enjoyed as a pure visual experience. To aid the viewers to relate, Gadre has provided expressive titles for each work.

This exhibition proves to be yet another testimony of Tao Art Gallery’s macro-vision that sees art not in isolation, but as having a cohesive relationship with life itself. A must visit for every art lover to witness the ‘Tao’ of Science, Art and Spirituality. It is open to visitors till 15^th July 2023.

For further information, refer to https://www.taoartgallery.com

* Note: The few selected verses included in the article are from the song ‘We Are Star Dust’ from the album ‘Symphony of Science’. To enjoy the full song, click on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g4d-rnhuSg

Vineel Bhurke