In the 1980s Raza`s fluid, gestural application of paint gave way to a more hard-edged approach to abstract spaces. "In terms of painting, immense possibilities seemed to open, based on elementary geometric forms: the point, the circle, vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines, the triangles and the square." (p. 126, S.H. Raza, "Bindu: The Point", Bindu: Space and Time in Raza`s Vision, Media Transasia Ltd, 1997)...
In the 1980s Raza`s fluid, gestural application of paint gave way to a more hard-edged approach to abstract spaces. "In terms of painting, immense possibilities seemed to open, based on elementary geometric forms: the point, the circle, vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines, the triangles and the square." (p. 126, S.H. Raza, "Bindu: The Point", Bindu: Space and Time in Raza`s Vision, Media Transasia Ltd, 1997)
Unlike, the work of the British Optical artists, however, who showed a similar preoccupation with geometry, in Raza`s oeuvre, these shapes are permeated with spiritual significance. While in Op art, geometric shapes were exploited for their ability to create the illusion of movement, serving as an investigation of the physical impact of pictorial data, Raza`s images seek to go deeper than the world of experienced reality. "In his canvases, geometric forms are used to map the universe. Here, the vocabulary of pure plastic form acquires an integral purpose: to relate the shape and rhythm of these forms to Nature." (p. 118, Geeti Sen, Ibid.) The title of this painting, Bindu Bija - Mantra, as well as the images the `Bindu` and the `Bija`, crystallizes the metaphysical preoccupations of Raza`s aesthetic. Central to Raza`s paintings from the 1970s, the Bindu or black void symbolizes the starting point of universe. The `Bija` or seed is a reference to Raza`s preoccupation with germination as the source of all life and `Mantra` or chant gestures to the Tantric basis that underlines much of the artist`s painterly endeavors.