Raga Responses

A raga is a sort of improvisational framework, or formula, used by classical Indian musicians.

I first encountered ragas through some serendipitous triangulation of George Harrison, Philip Glass, and Ravi Shankar.  I was attracted to their shimmering balance of virtuosity and what I sensed as layers and scales of rhythmic repetitions.  As I have learned more about them, I have come to understand that, like so many things-Indian, ragas are part of a vast system connecting the cosmic and the microcosmic.  They are to be played at certain times of day, and specified seasons of the year.  The word raga means “coloring” referring to their intent to transmit emotional tone.

I began listening to ragas seeking a fresh compositional strategy.  Rather than relying on a linear narrative (set-up, complication, climax, conclusion, with a hierarchy of primary and supporting forms), I sought a way to repeat and layer, balancing disciplined control and joyous abandon.  In ragas, I hear a sort of figural field, one that becomes distinct through aggregation rather than singular emphasis.  This is what I heard in ragas, and have tried to transmit through these drawings.

How might the same forms reoccur, yet never repeat?  Can repetition itself become a form, through re-petitioning, asking again and again?

4’ x 4’ acrylic on craft paper.