New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Artist Lal Bahadur Singh's world is taken over by birds - sparrows, parrots, woodpeckers, peacocks and seagulls - and the human has left, leaving behind its structures, devices of urbanisation and industrial encroachment for the avians to look for their homes.

In Singh's solo show, "Silent Echoes of a Flight Beyond… and whispers of the earth beneath" at Bikaner House by Gallerie Nvya, the lines between nature and human-made are blurred as he reflects upon the intersections of nature, urbanization, and the resilience of life in the face of industrial encroachment.

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In a large painting, titled "City Park", hundreds of sparrows line up along a stalk, resembling a winding lane, engaged in activities one would find humans at a public garden - flying a kite, holding a bunch of balloons or simply sitting on a carpet.

The humanness of the birds is reflected in an untitled work where birds of different species have made nests in hollow spaces in a brick wall. The red-hued canvas resembles a multi-storey apartment building where balconies are spaces to hang clothes to dry.

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Another painting, "Unknown Journey", shows a truck carrying a large pile of bricks, as a flock of birds circles it.

"Through my art, I try to reflect the quiet resilience of nature in the face of growing urbanisation. The birds I paint – small, vivid, full of life – are symbols of hope. They remind us that even as cities rise and the world around us changes, nature finds ways to endure, often in the most unexpected forms," Singh told PTI.

The artist's avian subjects, delicately painted in almost every work, evoke the fragility and fleeting beauty of nature, "standing in stark opposition to the cold, mechanical world of construction and industry".

The largest work in the exhibition, "Organic City", consists of five expansive canvases that together form a city, but not one made of steel and concrete. It is a city of rocks -- red and weathered -- set against a serene green landscape.

"While the other paintings teem with life, whether in the form of birds, trees, or human-made materials, this city of rocks is marked by its profound absence. There are no towering buildings, no construction debris, no signs of human industry — only the raw, unyielding presence of the rocks themselves, the silent witnesses to time,” the organisers said in a statement.

They added that Singh urges us to question "whether the paths we take toward prosperity are indeed the ones that nourish us, or whether they lead us into a landscape where the promise of a brighter future is choked by the very forces that should propel us forward".

The exhibition will come to an end on April 9 before moving to Gallerie Nvya from April 12 to May 17.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)